Best PlacesVilas County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Vilas 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.
Vilas County ranks 1,290th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Vilas 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.
Vilas County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vilas County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
Where Vilas County ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Vilas County
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vilas County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,096, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Vilas County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Vilas County
Vilas 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 Vilas County.
Who works in Vilas County, and how
Work in Vilas County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, 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 Vilas County
Vilas County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of counties and more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Vilas County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Vilas County growing, and who is moving in?
Vilas County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Oneida County, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Vilas County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Vilas County, month by month
Vilas County sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 16° | 8° |
| April | 50° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 55° |
| October | 54° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Vilas County
The nearest airport, Rhinelander/Oneida County, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 196 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vilas County
Schools across Vilas County average a C+, better than 49% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- North Lakeland ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Arbor Vitae-woodruff ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
- Northland Pines Elementary-st GermainB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northland Pines MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- School Of Options & Applied Research MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- School Of Options & Applied Research HighB− · 42% proficient
- Hurley HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Lakeland HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vilas County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vilas 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 Vilas County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Vilas County suits
Families
Schools land around the 49th percentile and crime safety beats 64%.
Common questions about living in Vilas County
Is Vilas County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vilas County ranks 1,290th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on empty homes 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 Vilas County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $302,399. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $67,096 median income, cost of living beats 24% of counties.
Is Vilas County safe?
Yes, Vilas County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Vilas County?
July highs average about 79 degrees, and January highs near 23 with lows near 8. That works out to about 91 pleasant days a year, more than 53% of counties.
Is Vilas County good for families?
Schools beat 49% of counties, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $839 a month.
Compare Vilas County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vilas County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vilas 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.
Vilas County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vilas County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vilas County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vilas County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vilas County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vilas 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.