Best PlacesNiagara, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Niagara, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Niagara ranks 23,932nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Niagara
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.
Niagara's strengths and weaknesses
Where Niagara ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
Where Niagara ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Niagara
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Niagara home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,078, 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 Niagara's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Niagara
Niagara runs older than the country, 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 Niagara.
Who works in Niagara, and how
Work in Niagara centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Niagara
Niagara has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns and more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Niagara and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Niagara, month by month
Niagara sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 52° | 40° | 29° |
| July | 82° | 69° | 57° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Niagara
The nearest airport, Ford, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around Niagara
Schools across Niagara average a C−, better than 27% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Niagara ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Florence ElementaryC · 32% proficient
- Pembine ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kingsford Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Florence MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Kingsford High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Niagara HighC− · 30% proficient
- Pembine HighD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Niagara school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Niagara 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 Niagara against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Niagara
Is Niagara a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Niagara ranks 23,932nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, cheap car insurance, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Niagara expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,997. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $67,078 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Niagara safe?
Niagara is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
Compare Niagara with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Niagara. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Niagara 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.
Niagara detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Niagara: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Niagara: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Niagara: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Niagara: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Niagara 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.