Best PlacesStevens Point, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stevens Point, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stevens Point ranks 1,134th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stevens Point
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.
Stevens Point's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stevens Point ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of cities
- Short commute17.3 minutes each way, better than 95% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 79% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of cities
Where Stevens Point ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Household income$70,736 median, better than only 23% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Stevens Point
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stevens Point home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,736, 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 Stevens Point's effective rate of 1.40%, 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 Stevens Point
Stevens Point runs younger 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 Stevens Point.
Who works in Stevens Point, and how
Work in Stevens Point centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Stevens Point
Stevens Point has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 98% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Stevens Point and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Stevens Point, month by month
Stevens Point sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 54° | 42° | 32° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Stevens Point
The nearest airport, Central Wisconsin, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 137 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stevens Point
Schools across Stevens Point average a C+, better than 40% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Bannach ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Mcdill ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Washington ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amherst MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Benjamin Franklin Junior HighB− · 42% proficient
- P J Jacobs Junior HighB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Point Of Discovery SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Stevens Point Area Senior HighC · 31% proficient
- Amherst HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stevens Point school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stevens Point 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 Stevens Point against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Stevens Point suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 63% of cities and health care access beats 67%.
Common questions about living in Stevens Point
Is Stevens Point a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stevens Point ranks 1,134th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stevens Point expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $220,317. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $70,736 median income, cost of living beats 33% of cities.
Is Stevens Point safe?
Stevens Point is safer than 38% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $376 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stevens Point?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 11. That works out to about 105 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of cities.
Is Stevens Point good for families?
Schools beat 40% of cities, crime safety beats 38%, and childcare runs $1,055 a month.
Compare Stevens Point with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stevens Point. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stevens Point 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.
Stevens Point detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stevens Point: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stevens Point: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stevens Point: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stevens Point: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stevens Point 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.