Best PlacesSouth Milwaukee, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Milwaukee, 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.
South Milwaukee ranks 8,780th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Milwaukee
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.
South Milwaukee's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Milwaukee ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
Where South Milwaukee ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 13% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Milwaukee
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Milwaukee home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,062, 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 South Milwaukee's effective rate of 1.88%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Milwaukee
South Milwaukee'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 South Milwaukee.
Who works in South Milwaukee, and how
Work in South Milwaukee centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in South Milwaukee
South Milwaukee has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of towns and more parkland per resident than 86% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of South Milwaukee and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Milwaukee, month by month
South Milwaukee sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of South Milwaukee
General Mitchell International sits about 3 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 South Milwaukee
Schools across South Milwaukee average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeview ElementaryC · 32% proficient
- E W Luther ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Rawson ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Milwaukee MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- South Milwaukee HighC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Milwaukee school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Milwaukee 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 South Milwaukee against the other 50,332 towns.
Who South Milwaukee suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in South Milwaukee
Is South Milwaukee a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Milwaukee ranks 8,780th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and biking, 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 South Milwaukee expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $237,492. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $77,062 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is South Milwaukee safe?
South Milwaukee is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $296 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in South Milwaukee?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 18. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of towns.
Is South Milwaukee good for families?
Schools beat 18% of towns, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare South Milwaukee with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Milwaukee. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Milwaukee 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.
South Milwaukee detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Milwaukee: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Milwaukee: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Milwaukee: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Milwaukee: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Milwaukee 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.