Best PlacesWaukesha County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Waukesha County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Waukesha County ranks 44th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $114,231, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, childcare costs, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Waukesha 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.
The best areas in Waukesha County
The parts of Waukesha County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Brookfield
More adults hold degrees, biking is better, and more households have young kids.
Delafield
Incomes run higher and local pay stretches further.
Sussex
Schools score higher and prices have run up less.
New Berlin & Muskego
Menomonee Falls
Scores close to New Berlin & Muskego, except that streets are more walkable here.
Oconomowoc & Hartland
Scores close to Menomonee Falls, except that homes cost more here.
Mukwonago & Eagle
It is quieter, though advertised internet is slower.
Big Bend
Scores close to Mukwonago & Eagle, except that fewer residents vote here.
Waukesha & Pewaukee
Transit reaches more jobs, though crime runs higher.
Scores across Waukesha County run from about the 31st to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Waukesha County's strengths and weaknesses
Waukesha County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Health care access is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Civic engagement and few empty homes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, childcare costs, and property taxes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Waukesha County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of counties
Where Waukesha County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Waukesha County
A household needs to earn about $114,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waukesha County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $114,231, 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 Waukesha County's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 Waukesha County
Waukesha County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Waukesha County.
Who works in Waukesha County, and how
Work in Waukesha County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Waukesha County
Waukesha County has more parkland per resident than 96% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Waukesha County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Waukesha County growing, and who is moving in?
Waukesha County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Milwaukee, WI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Waukesha County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Waukesha County, month by month
Waukesha County sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 21° | 16° |
| April | 54° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 80° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Waukesha County
General Mitchell International sits about 18 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.9 million passengers in 2025, with 66 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Waukesha County
Schools across Waukesha County average a B, better than 82% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mill Valley ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
- Marcy ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
- Lakeview ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Muskego Lakes MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- North Shore MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Merton IntermediateA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Km Global SchA · 75% proficient
- Eisenhower Middle/highA− · 61% proficient
- High School Of Health SciencesA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waukesha County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waukesha 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 Waukesha County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Waukesha County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 57% of counties and health care access beats 100%.
Common questions about living in Waukesha County
Is Waukesha County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waukesha County ranks 44th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and few empty homes, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waukesha County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $416,018. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $114,231 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Waukesha County safe?
Yes, Waukesha County is safer than 90% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Waukesha County?
July highs average about 80 degrees, and January highs near 28 with lows near 16. That works out to about 95 pleasant days a year, more than 57% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Waukesha County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Brookfield, Delafield, and Sussex. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Waukesha County good for families?
Schools beat 82% of counties, crime safety beats 90%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Is Waukesha County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 71% of counties. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare Waukesha County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waukesha County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waukesha 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.
Waukesha County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waukesha County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waukesha County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waukesha County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waukesha County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waukesha 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.