Best PlacesNorske, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norske, 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.
Norske ranks 19,307th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Norske
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.
Norske's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norske ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 78% of towns
Where Norske ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Norske
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norske home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,725, 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 Norske's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Norske
Norske 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 Norske.
Who works in Norske, and how
Work in Norske centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Norske
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Norske.
What the weather is like in Norske, month by month
Norske sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 54° | 42° | 32° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Norske
The nearest airport, Central Wisconsin, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norske
Schools across Norske average a C, better than 33% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Iola-scandinavia ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Wittenberg ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Rosholt ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rosholt MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Iola-scandinavia HighC− · 30% proficient
- Wittenberg-birnamwood HighC− · 30% proficient
- Rosholt HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norske school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norske 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 Norske against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Norske
Is Norske a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norske ranks 19,307th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and low disaster risk, and lowest on cell coverage and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Norske expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,599. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $82,725 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Norske safe?
Yes, Norske is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
Compare Norske with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norske. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norske 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.
Norske detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norske: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norske: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norske: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norske: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norske 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.