Best PlacesOutagamie County, WI Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood in Outagamie County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

Outagamie County ranks 77th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $90,784, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, property taxes, and childcare costs.

#77
of 3,144 counties
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 3,144 counties
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in Outagamie County

Map of the best neighborhoods in the Outagamie County area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

The best areas in Outagamie County

The parts of Outagamie County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.

#1

Kaukauna, Kimberly & Combined Locks

Crime runs lower and schools score higher.

WorseBetter
88th nationally
#2

Greenville

Incomes run higher and local pay stretches further.

WorseBetter
87th nationally
#3

Little Chute

Scores close to Greenville, except that fewer adults hold degrees here.

WorseBetter
81st nationally
#4

Seymour & Oneida

It is quieter, though biking is worse.

WorseBetter
75th nationally
#5

Appleton

Streets are more walkable and transit reaches more jobs.

WorseBetter
73rd nationally
#6

Hortonville, Shiocton & Black Creek

More households have young kids, though advertised internet is slower.

WorseBetter
72nd nationally

Scores across Outagamie County run from about the 22nd to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.


Outagamie County's strengths and weaknesses

#77Best US county overall
Top 1%Cheap car insurance
Top 1%Few empty homes
Top 3%The weather

Outagamie County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Cheap car insurance is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Few empty homes and the weather follow.

The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, property taxes, and childcare costs hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.

Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare Outagamie County with other counties.

Where Outagamie County ranks high

  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
  • Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
  • Nice weatherabout 185 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of counties
  • Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
  • Internet speedBetter than 95% of counties

Where Outagamie County ranks low

  • QuietBetter than only 10% of counties
  • Low property taxBetter than only 12% of counties
  • Cheap childcare$1,055 a month, better than only 14% of counties
  • State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
  • Tree shadeBetter than only 34% of counties

What it costs to buy a home in Outagamie County

A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Outagamie County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,784, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$77,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$1,801
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $274,382 home
Median rent
$1,082
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$1,399
Property tax$311
Homeowners insurance$91

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 Outagamie County's effective rate of 1.36%, 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.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in Outagamie County

Outagamie County's age mix sits close to the national median.

Median age
40
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
17%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.5
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1822%
18 to 3422%
35 to 4920%
50 to 6419%
65 and older17%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Outagamie County.


Who works in Outagamie County, and how

Work in Outagamie County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.

Work from home
12%
below the national average
Unemployment
2.8%
below the national average
Job growth
+2.1%
/y 2019-2023, near the national pace

Largest industries

Manufacturing21%
Health care & social13%
Retail trade10%
Education8%
Construction7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 84%
  • Work from home 12%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 4%

Life in Outagamie County

Outagamie County has more parkland per resident than 89% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 76% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Outagamie County and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
992
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 52.0 per 10,000 residents, more than 61% of counties
Coffee shops
106
about 5.6 per 10,000 residents, more than 55% of counties
Parkland
2,094 acres
about 11.0 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 89% of counties
Open past 10pm
~187
food and drink venues open late, about 9.8 per 10,000 residents, more than 76% of counties
Living on campus
1,279
students living in college or university housing

Is Outagamie County growing, and who is moving in?

Outagamie County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Oshkosh, WI.

Population growth
+7%
over the decade, vs about 6% nationally
Population
195,390
up from 182,148
Population by year. Source: U.S. Census Population Estimates Program.

Where new residents come from

Oshkosh, WI2,778 / yr
Green Bay, WI1,141 / yr
The rest of the Appleton, WI metro943 / yr
Milwaukee, WI761 / yr
Waupaca County, WI363 / yr

Where people leaving Outagamie County go

Oshkosh, WI3,120 / yr
Green Bay, WI1,676 / yr
The rest of the Appleton, WI metro865 / yr
Waupaca County, WI657 / yr
Madison, WI493 / yr

Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.


What the weather is like in Outagamie County, month by month

Outagamie County sees roughly 185 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January27°21°16°
April54°44°36°
July81°72°63°
October59°50°43°

Flying in and out of Outagamie County

The nearest airport, Appleton International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 97 miles away.

Nearest airport
ATW
Appleton International, about 7 miles
Airport size
Small hub
130th-busiest in the US, 30 nonstop destinations
Average drive
10 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around Outagamie County

Schools across Outagamie County average a C+, better than 51% of counties.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Outagamie County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


Outagamie County 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 Outagamie County against the other 3,143 counties.


Who Outagamie County suits

Families

Schools land around the 51st percentile and crime safety beats 91%.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

The weather beats 98% of counties and health care access beats 93%.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in Outagamie County

Is Outagamie County a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Outagamie County ranks 77th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, few empty homes, and the weather, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is Outagamie County expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $274,382. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $90,784 median income, cost of living beats 90% of counties.

Is Outagamie County safe?

Yes, Outagamie County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in Outagamie County?

July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 27 with lows near 16. That works out to about 185 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of counties.

What are the best neighborhoods in Outagamie County?

Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Kaukauna, Kimberly & Combined Locks, Greenville, and Little Chute. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.

Is Outagamie County good for families?

Schools beat 51% of counties, crime safety beats 91%, and childcare runs $1,055 a month.

Is Outagamie County good for remote workers?

Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 95% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.


Compare Outagamie County with other counties


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Outagamie County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Outagamie County 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.

Outagamie County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for Outagamie County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in Outagamie County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of Outagamie County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in Outagamie County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

Outagamie County detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
  3. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  4. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  5. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  6. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  7. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  8. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  9. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  10. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  11. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  12. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  13. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.