Best PlacesWashington Island, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Washington Island, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Washington Island ranks 11,713th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Washington Island
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.
Washington Island's strengths and weaknesses
Where Washington Island ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute10.3 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
Where Washington Island ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Washington Island
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Washington Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,000, 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 Washington Island's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Washington Island
Washington Island 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 Washington Island.
Who works in Washington Island, and how
Work in Washington Island centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Washington Island
Washington Island has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Washington Island and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Washington Island, month by month
Washington Island sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 55° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Washington Island
The nearest airport, Delta County, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 175 miles away.
The best schools in and around Washington Island
Schools across Washington Island average a B−, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washington Island ElementaryC+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sevastopol MiddleA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Sevastopol HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Washington Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Washington Island 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 Washington Island against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Washington Island
Is Washington Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Washington Island ranks 11,713th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, short commutes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on internet speeds 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 Washington Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $322,200. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $70,000 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Washington Island safe?
Yes, Washington Island is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
Compare Washington Island with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Washington Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Washington Island 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.
Washington Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Washington Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Washington Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Washington Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Washington Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Washington Island 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.