Best PlacesWauconda, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wauconda, 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.
Wauconda ranks 35,992nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wauconda
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.
Wauconda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wauconda ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 135 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 86% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of towns
Where Wauconda ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wauconda
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wauconda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,787, 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 Wauconda's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wauconda
Wauconda 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 Wauconda.
Who works in Wauconda, and how
Work in Wauconda centers on health care & social and other services. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Wauconda
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wauconda.
What the weather is like in Wauconda, month by month
Wauconda sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 23° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 35° |
| July | 94° | 77° | 58° |
| October | 64° | 50° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Wauconda
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 104 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 182 miles away.
Wauconda 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 Wauconda against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wauconda
Is Wauconda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wauconda ranks 35,992nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on cell coverage and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wauconda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,713. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $70,787 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Wauconda safe?
Yes, Wauconda is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $285 per resident a year.
Compare Wauconda with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wauconda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wauconda 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.
Wauconda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wauconda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wauconda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wauconda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wauconda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wauconda 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.