Best PlacesVernon County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Vernon 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.
Vernon County ranks 1,184th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Vernon 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.
Vernon County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vernon County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 76% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 75% of counties
Where Vernon County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 31% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Vernon County
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vernon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,017, 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 Vernon County's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 Vernon County
Vernon 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 Vernon County.
Who works in Vernon County, and how
Work in Vernon County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Vernon County
Vernon County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of counties and more parkland per resident than 81% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Vernon County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Vernon County growing, and who is moving in?
Vernon County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the La Crosse, WI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Vernon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Vernon County, month by month
Vernon County sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 63° |
| October | 58° | 49° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Vernon County
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vernon County
Schools across Vernon County average a C+, better than 48% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Viroqua Area Montessori SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Viroqua ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Stoddard ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Viroqua MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Westby MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- De Soto MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Laurel HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Central HighC · 31% proficient
- Kickapoo HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vernon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vernon 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 Vernon County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Vernon County suits
Families
Schools land around the 48th percentile and crime safety beats 75%.
Retirees
The weather beats 70% of counties, health care access beats 84%, and it is quieter than 56%.
Common questions about living in Vernon County
Is Vernon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vernon County ranks 1,184th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and health care access, and lowest on cell coverage and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vernon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $233,097. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $73,017 median income, cost of living beats 47% of counties.
Is Vernon County safe?
Yes, Vernon County is safer than 75% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $300 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Vernon County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 13. That works out to about 114 pleasant days a year, more than 70% of counties.
Is Vernon County good for families?
Schools beat 48% of counties, crime safety beats 75%, and childcare runs $839 a month.
Compare Vernon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vernon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vernon 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.
Vernon County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vernon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vernon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vernon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vernon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vernon 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.