Best PlacesRacine County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Racine 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.
Racine County ranks 560th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $84,837, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, childcare costs, and air quality.
The best neighborhoods in Racine 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 Racine County
The parts of Racine 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.
Rochester
Schools score higher, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Waterford & Tichigan
Crime runs lower, though fewer households have young kids.
Burlington
Biking is worse and transit reaches fewer jobs.
Franksville
More residents vote, though streets are more car-dependent.
Mount Pleasant
Fewer homes sit empty and prices have run up less.
Sturtevant & Union Grove
Caledonia
More adults hold degrees.
Racine
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
Racine County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Racine County's strengths and weaknesses
Racine County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low disaster risk, big-city access, and transit carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, childcare costs, and air quality hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Racine County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 94% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of counties
Where Racine County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Racine County
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Racine County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,837, 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 Racine County's effective rate of 1.58%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Racine County
Racine 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 Racine County.
Who works in Racine County, and how
Work in Racine 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 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Racine County
Racine County has more parkland per resident than 92% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Racine County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Racine County growing, and who is moving in?
Racine County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Milwaukee, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Racine County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Racine County, month by month
Racine County sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 20° |
| April | 55° | 45° | 38° |
| July | 82° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 62° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Racine County
General Mitchell International sits about 15 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 Racine County
Schools across Racine County average a D+, better than 15% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeview ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
- Lyons CenterA · 65% proficient
- North Cape ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lake Denoon MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Northbrook Junior High SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Fox River MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Muskego HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Waterford HighC+ · 39% proficient
- Burlington HighC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Racine County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Racine 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 Racine County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Racine County suits
Families
Schools land around the 15th percentile and crime safety beats 55%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 62% of counties and health care access beats 77%.
Common questions about living in Racine County
Is Racine County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Racine County ranks 560th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, big-city access, and transit, 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 Racine County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $262,718. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $84,837 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Racine County safe?
Yes, Racine County is safer than 55% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $359 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Racine County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 20. That works out to about 103 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Racine County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Rochester, Waterford & Tichigan, and Burlington. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Racine County good for families?
Schools beat 15% of counties, crime safety beats 55%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Is Racine County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 63% of counties. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Racine County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Racine County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Racine 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.
Racine County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Racine County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Racine County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Racine County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Racine County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Racine 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.