Best PlacesMuscoda, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Muscoda, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Muscoda ranks 19,188th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Muscoda
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Muscoda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Muscoda ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- BikingBetter than 80% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 78% of towns
Where Muscoda ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 25% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 29% of towns
- Cheap childcare$943 a month, better than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Muscoda
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Muscoda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,315, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Muscoda's effective rate of 1.05%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Muscoda
Muscoda's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Muscoda.
Who works in Muscoda, and how
Work in Muscoda centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Muscoda
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Muscoda.
What the weather is like in Muscoda, month by month
Muscoda sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Muscoda
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Muscoda
Schools across Muscoda average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Iowa-grant Elementary/middleB · 47% proficient
- Riverdale ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Boscobel ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Highland Community MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Riverdale Junior HighC · 35% proficient
- Boscobel Junior HighD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Richland Center HighB− · 42% proficient
- Highland Community HighC · 34% proficient
- Riverdale HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Muscoda school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Muscoda measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Muscoda against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Muscoda
Is Muscoda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Muscoda ranks 19,188th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, walkability, and low crime, and lowest on civic engagement and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Muscoda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,399. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $64,315 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Muscoda safe?
Yes, Muscoda is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $204 per resident a year.
Compare Muscoda with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Muscoda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Muscoda represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Muscoda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Muscoda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Muscoda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Muscoda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Muscoda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Muscoda detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.