Best PlacesPierce County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pierce 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.
Pierce County ranks 258th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pierce County
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 Pierce County
The parts of Pierce 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.
Prescott
Crime runs lower and more residents vote.
Ellsworth
More households have young kids and it is quieter.
River Falls
Biking is better and more adults hold degrees.
Scores across Pierce County run from about the 35th to the 91st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Pierce County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pierce County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of counties
Where Pierce County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- Short commute26.7 minutes each way, better than only 32% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pierce County
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pierce County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,667, 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 Pierce County's effective rate of 1.32%, 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 Pierce County
Pierce County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pierce County.
Who works in Pierce County, and how
Work in Pierce County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Pierce County
Pierce County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of counties and more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pierce County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pierce County growing, and who is moving in?
Pierce County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Minneapolis, MN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pierce County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pierce County, month by month
Pierce County sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 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 | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Pierce County
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 34 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Pierce County
Schools across Pierce County average a B, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Greenwood ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Malone ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Westside ElementaryA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Elmwood MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Prescott MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Meyer MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Lincoln SecondaryB− · 42% proficient
- Prescott HighB− · 42% proficient
- Ellsworth HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pierce County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pierce 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 Pierce County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Pierce County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Pierce County
Is Pierce County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pierce County ranks 258th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, cheap car insurance, and heat safety, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pierce County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $331,023. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $93,667 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Pierce County safe?
Yes, Pierce County is safer than 96% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pierce County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 11. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Pierce County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Prescott, Ellsworth, and River Falls. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Pierce County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pierce County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pierce 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.
Pierce County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pierce County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pierce County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pierce County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pierce County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pierce County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.