Best PlacesWisconsin Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wisconsin, 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.
Wisconsin ranks 19th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on low disaster risk and civic engagement. The weaker spots are property taxes, noise, and cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin
The counties of Wisconsin, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Brown County, Outagamie County & Sheboygan County
Fewer homes sit empty and crime runs lower.
Dane County & Rock County
Big-city amenities are closer and more adults hold degrees.
Milwaukee County & Waukesha County
Transit reaches more jobs, though it is noisier.
Eau Claire County, St. Croix County & Chippewa County
Tree cover is thicker, though biking is worse.
Portage County, Dodge County & Columbia County
Fewer households have young kids and streets are more car-dependent.
Marinette County, Oconto County & Door County
Prices have run up more and advertised internet is slower.
Marathon County & Oneida County
Homes cost less, though incomes run lower.
La Crosse County, Monroe County & Vernon County
Scores close to Marathon County & Oneida County, except that disaster risk is higher here.
Grant County, Iowa County & Crawford County
Local pay stretches less far and health outcomes score lower.
Wisconsin shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Wisconsin's strengths and weaknesses
Wisconsin lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low disaster risk is the standout, in the top 3% of states. Civic engagement and health care access follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, noise, and cell coverage hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of Wisconsin to another than it does between Wisconsin and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Wisconsin ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of states
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of states
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of states
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of states
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of states
Where Wisconsin ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of states
- QuietBetter than only 31% of states
- Cell coverageBetter than only 31% of states
- Cheap childcare$1,149 a month, better than only 31% of states
- State infrastructureBetter than only 35% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Wisconsin
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wisconsin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,577, 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 Wisconsin's effective rate of 1.41%, 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 Wisconsin
Wisconsin's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Wisconsin.
Who works in Wisconsin, and how
Work in Wisconsin 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 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Wisconsin
Wisconsin has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most states and more parkland per resident than 98% of states. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wisconsin and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wisconsin, month by month
Wisconsin sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 55° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 43° |
The best schools in and around Wisconsin
Schools across Wisconsin average a C+, better than 37% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Kohler ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Mill Valley ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
- Wauwatosa StemA+ · 82% proficient
Top middle schools
- Odyssey-magellanA+ · 94% proficient
- Accelerated Advanced Learning ProgramA+ · 88% proficient
- Woodland IntermediateA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Km Global SchA · 75% proficient
- Eisenhower Middle/highA− · 61% proficient
- Cedarburg HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wisconsin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin against the other 49 states.
Who Wisconsin suits
Families
Schools land around the 37th percentile and crime safety beats 65%.
Retirees
The weather beats 61% of states and health care access beats 94%.
Common questions about living in Wisconsin
Is Wisconsin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wisconsin ranks 19th of 50 states. It scores highest on low disaster risk, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wisconsin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,887. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $83,577 median income, cost of living beats 47% of states.
Is Wisconsin safe?
Yes, Wisconsin is safer than 65% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wisconsin?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 18. That works out to about 100 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of states.
What are the best areas in Wisconsin?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Brown County, Outagamie County & Sheboygan County, Dane County & Rock County, and Milwaukee County & Waukesha County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Wisconsin good for families?
Schools beat 37% of states, crime safety beats 65%, and childcare runs $1,149 a month.
Is Wisconsin good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 47% of states, though advertised internet speeds beat only 51% of states. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Wisconsin with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wisconsin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wisconsin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wisconsin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wisconsin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wisconsin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wisconsin 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.
- 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.