Best PlacesShawano County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Shawano County, 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.
Shawano County ranks 1,217th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shawano 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.
Shawano County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shawano County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 97% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 78% of counties
Where Shawano County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 29% of counties
- School gradeC, better than only 29% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Shawano County
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shawano County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,023, 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 Shawano County's effective rate of 1.25%, 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 Shawano County
Shawano County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shawano County.
Who works in Shawano County, and how
Work in Shawano County 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 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Shawano County
Shawano County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of counties and more parkland per resident than 81% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Shawano County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Shawano County growing, and who is moving in?
Shawano County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Green Bay, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Shawano County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Shawano County, month by month
Shawano County sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Shawano County
The nearest airport, Green Bay/Austin Straubel International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 133 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shawano County
Schools across Shawano County average a C, better than 29% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Glenbrook ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
- Lannoye ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Birnamwood ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pulaski Community MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Gillett MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Bonduel MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Pulaski HighB− · 45% proficient
- Bonduel HighC− · 30% proficient
- Wittenberg-birnamwood HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shawano County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shawano 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 Shawano County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Shawano County suits
Families
Schools land around the 29th percentile and crime safety beats 78%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Shawano County
Is Shawano County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shawano County ranks 1,217th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and heat safety, and lowest on property taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shawano County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,274. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $69,023 median income, cost of living beats 57% of counties.
Is Shawano County safe?
Yes, Shawano County is safer than 78% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $276 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Shawano County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 16. That works out to about 89 pleasant days a year, more than 51% of counties.
Is Shawano County good for families?
Schools beat 29% of counties, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $839 a month.
Compare Shawano County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shawano County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shawano 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.
Shawano County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shawano County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shawano County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shawano County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shawano County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shawano 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.