Best PlacesOconomowoc, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oconomowoc, 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.
Oconomowoc ranks 432nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oconomowoc
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.
Oconomowoc's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oconomowoc ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 97% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of cities
Where Oconomowoc ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 22% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 22% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oconomowoc
A household needs to earn about $122,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oconomowoc home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $112,302; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Oconomowoc's effective rate of 1.06%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oconomowoc
Oconomowoc runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oconomowoc.
Who works in Oconomowoc, and how
Work in Oconomowoc 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 81%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Oconomowoc
Oconomowoc has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oconomowoc and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oconomowoc, month by month
Oconomowoc sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 15° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Oconomowoc
General Mitchell International sits about 32 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.9 million passengers in 2025, with 66 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Oconomowoc
Schools across Oconomowoc average a B+, better than 72% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Country SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Summit ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Meadow View ElementaryA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kettle Moraine MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Silver Lake IntermediateA− · 52% proficient
- Nature Hill IntermediateB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Arrowhead HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Kettle Moraine HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Oconomowoc HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oconomowoc school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oconomowoc 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 Oconomowoc against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Oconomowoc suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of cities and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Oconomowoc
Is Oconomowoc a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oconomowoc ranks 432nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on internet speeds and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oconomowoc expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $449,994. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $112,302 median income, cost of living beats 75% of cities.
Is Oconomowoc safe?
Yes, Oconomowoc is safer than 90% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $204 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oconomowoc?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 15. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of cities.
Is Oconomowoc good for families?
Schools beat 72% of cities, crime safety beats 90%, and childcare runs $1,279 a month.
Compare Oconomowoc with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oconomowoc. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oconomowoc 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.
Oconomowoc detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oconomowoc: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oconomowoc: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oconomowoc: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oconomowoc: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oconomowoc 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.