Best PlacesPrairie Hills, Madison, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Prairie Hills, Madison, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Prairie Hills, Madison ranks 1,861st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Prairie Hills, Madison
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.
Prairie Hills, Madison's strengths and weaknesses
Where Prairie Hills, Madison ranks high
- Short commute15.3 minutes each way, better than 97% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
Where Prairie Hills, Madison ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 29% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 38% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Prairie Hills, Madison
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Prairie Hills, Madison home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,110, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Prairie Hills, Madison's effective rate of 1.77%, 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 Prairie Hills, Madison
Prairie Hills, Madison runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Prairie Hills, Madison.
Who works in Prairie Hills, Madison, and how
Work in Prairie Hills, Madison centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Prairie Hills, Madison
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Prairie Hills, Madison.
What the weather is like in Prairie Hills, Madison, month by month
Prairie Hills, Madison sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Prairie Hills, Madison
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 81 miles away.
The best schools in and around Prairie Hills, Madison
Schools across Prairie Hills, Madison average a C+, better than 52% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Huegel ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Milele Chikasa Anana Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Toki MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Vel Phillips Memorial HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Prairie Hills, Madison school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Prairie Hills, Madison 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 Prairie Hills, Madison against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Prairie Hills, Madison
Is Prairie Hills, Madison a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Prairie Hills, Madison ranks 1,861st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on short commutes, heat safety, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on property taxes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Prairie Hills, Madison expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $333,395. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $77,110 median income, cost of living beats 53% of neighborhoods.
Is Prairie Hills, Madison safe?
Yes, Prairie Hills, Madison is safer than 79% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
Compare Prairie Hills, Madison with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Prairie Hills, Madison. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Prairie Hills, Madison 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.
Prairie Hills, Madison detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Prairie Hills, Madison: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Prairie Hills, Madison: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Prairie Hills, Madison: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Prairie Hills, Madison: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Prairie Hills, Madison 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.