Best PlacesWatertown, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Watertown, 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.
Watertown ranks 1,289th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and transit ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Watertown
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.
Watertown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Watertown ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 80% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 78% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 77% of cities
Where Watertown ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 25% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 26% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Watertown
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Watertown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,847, 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 Watertown's effective rate of 1.53%, 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 Watertown
Watertown runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Watertown.
Who works in Watertown, and how
Work in Watertown centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Watertown
Watertown has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Watertown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Watertown, month by month
Watertown sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 15° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Watertown
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 45 miles away.
The best schools in and around Watertown
Schools across Watertown average a C+, better than 32% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- John Hustis ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Ixonia ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Webster ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nature Hill IntermediateB+ · 51% proficient
- Honor IntermediateB+ · 50% proficient
- Lake Mills MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Oconomowoc HighB− · 42% proficient
- Lake Mills HighC · 33% proficient
- Endeavor Charter SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Watertown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Watertown 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 Watertown against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Watertown suits
Families
Schools land around the 32nd percentile and crime safety beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Watertown
Is Watertown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Watertown ranks 1,289th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, few empty homes, and heat safety, and lowest on transit and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Watertown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,138. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $74,847 median income, cost of living beats 34% of cities.
Is Watertown safe?
Yes, Watertown is safer than 70% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $283 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Watertown?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 15. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of cities.
Is Watertown good for families?
Schools beat 32% of cities, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $1,015 a month.
Compare Watertown with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Watertown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Watertown 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.
Watertown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Watertown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Watertown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Watertown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Watertown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Watertown 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.