Best PlacesWaupaca County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Waupaca 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.
Waupaca County ranks 907th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Waupaca 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 Waupaca County
The parts of Waupaca 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.
New London
Fewer homes sit empty and prices have run up less.
Manawa
It is quieter, though fewer households have young kids.
Waupaca
Tree cover is thicker, though incomes run lower.
Iola
Advertised internet is faster, though local pay stretches less far.
Clintonville
Commutes are shorter, though crime runs higher.
Weyauwega
Fewer residents vote.
Scores across Waupaca County run from about the 16th to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Waupaca County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waupaca County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 97% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Waupaca County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 28% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Waupaca County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waupaca County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,765, 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 Waupaca County's effective rate of 1.30%, 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 Waupaca County
Waupaca 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 Waupaca County.
Who works in Waupaca County, and how
Work in Waupaca County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, 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 Waupaca County
Waupaca County has more parkland per resident than 92% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Waupaca County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Waupaca County growing, and who is moving in?
Waupaca County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Appleton, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Waupaca County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Waupaca County, month by month
Waupaca County sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 60° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Waupaca County
The nearest airport, Appleton International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waupaca County
Schools across Waupaca County average a C+, better than 47% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sugar Bush ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Chain Exploration CenterA− · 57% proficient
- Parkview ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waupaca MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- New London MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Weyauwega MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Waupaca HighC · 33% proficient
- New London HighC · 32% proficient
- Iola-scandinavia HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waupaca County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waupaca 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 Waupaca County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Waupaca County suits
Families
Schools land around the 47th percentile and crime safety beats 97%.
Common questions about living in Waupaca County
Is Waupaca County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waupaca County ranks 907th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low crime, and health care access, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waupaca County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,575. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $73,765 median income, cost of living beats 66% of counties.
Is Waupaca County safe?
Yes, Waupaca County is safer than 97% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Waupaca County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 31 with lows near 14. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 39% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Waupaca County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are New London, Manawa, and Waupaca. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Waupaca County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waupaca County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waupaca 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.
Waupaca County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waupaca County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waupaca County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waupaca County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waupaca County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waupaca 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.