Best PlacesWest Milwaukee, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Milwaukee, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Milwaukee ranks 26,431st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Milwaukee
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.
West Milwaukee's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Milwaukee ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of towns
Where West Milwaukee ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$46,633 median, better than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Milwaukee
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Milwaukee home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $46,633, 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 West Milwaukee's effective rate of 1.46%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Milwaukee
West Milwaukee runs younger 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 West Milwaukee.
Who works in West Milwaukee, and how
Work in West Milwaukee centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in West Milwaukee
West Milwaukee has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of West Milwaukee and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Milwaukee, month by month
West Milwaukee sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of West Milwaukee
General Mitchell International sits about 6 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 West Milwaukee
Schools across West Milwaukee average a D−, better than 2% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Longfellow ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Greenfield BilingualD · 17% proficient
- Manitoba ElementaryD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Milwaukee IntermediateD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Central HighF · 10% proficient
- South Division HighF · 10% proficient
- Audubon Technology And Communication HighF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Milwaukee school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Milwaukee 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 West Milwaukee against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Milwaukee
Is West Milwaukee a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Milwaukee ranks 26,431st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and cell coverage, and lowest on the schools 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 West Milwaukee expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,045. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $46,633 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is West Milwaukee safe?
West Milwaukee is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $499 per resident a year.
Compare West Milwaukee with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Milwaukee. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Milwaukee 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.
West Milwaukee detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Milwaukee: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Milwaukee: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Milwaukee: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Milwaukee: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Milwaukee 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.