QoL Rank
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Wisconsin

Wisconsin has a quality of life score of 68/100 (A, excellent) and ranks #6 of 51 states. Its strongest category is safety (73) and its weakest is quality of life (63). Its top-rated larger counties are Ozaukee County, Calumet County, Kewaunee County.

  • Safety: 73
  • Cost of living: 72
  • Education: 63
  • Quality of life: 63

Key figures: violent crime 262.3 per 100,000 people a year (US 345.2); median rent $1,087 a month; median home value $266,500; median household income $74,671; life expectancy 77.8 years.

Counties in Wisconsin, best first

  1. Ozaukee County 81
  2. Iron County 79
  3. Calumet County 78
  4. Kewaunee County 77
  5. Waukesha County 76
  6. Washington County 75
  7. Marathon County 74
  8. Outagamie County 72
  9. Florence County 72
  10. Portage County 72
  11. Green County 71
  12. Door County 71
  13. St. Croix County 70
  14. Brown County 69
  15. Sheboygan County 68
  16. Eau Claire County 68
  17. Winnebago County 68
  18. Manitowoc County 67
  19. Oconto County 67
  20. Jefferson County 67
  21. Iowa County 67
  22. Dane County 66
  23. Pierce County 66
  24. Bayfield County 66
  25. Oneida County 66
  26. Walworth County 65
  27. Dodge County 65
  28. La Crosse County 65
  29. Sauk County 65
  30. Grant County 65
  31. Pepin County 64
  32. Buffalo County 64
  33. Waupaca County 64
  34. Chippewa County 64
  35. Douglas County 64
  36. Polk County 64
  37. Wood County 63
  38. Fond du Lac County 63
  39. Vilas County 63
  40. Lafayette County 63
  41. Vernon County 63
  42. Dunn County 63
  43. Marinette County 62
  44. Taylor County 62
  45. Price County 61
  46. Barron County 60
  47. Green Lake County 60
  48. Trempealeau County 59
  49. Crawford County 59
  50. Sawyer County 59
  51. Ashland County 59
  52. Shawano County 58
  53. Clark County 57
  54. Columbia County 57
  55. Lincoln County 57
  56. Rock County 57
  57. Monroe County 55
  58. Waushara County 55
  59. Kenosha County 55
  60. Washburn County 54
  61. Juneau County 53
  62. Langlade County 53
  63. Forest County 52
  64. Jackson County 52
  65. Racine County 51
  66. Marquette County 51
  67. Menominee County 50
  68. Burnett County 49
  69. Rusk County 48
  70. Richland County 47
  71. Adams County 39
  72. Milwaukee County 36

Your priorities

Choose how much each category counts toward the overall score. The map, rankings and every place’s overall score update as you go.

About the data

Every county is compared with every other US county, and every state with the other states.

Each measure becomes a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 is always best. For crime, deaths, disaster risk, costs and commutes, the lowest value is best. A category score averages its measures’ percentiles and is then scaled so all four categories have the same spread around 50, so each counts equally. The overall score is the average of the four. 50 is a typical place, and most land between 35 and 65. Your priorities lets you weight the categories differently.

Grades: A 65 and up, B 55–64, C 45–54, D 35–44, F under 35.

Each category lists a county’s own figures next to its state’s and the US figures. Under the state and US columns, Difference shows whether the county is higher or lower, as a share of that figure (hover for the exact gap). Rank shows where it ranks instead: “ranked 75%” means it does better than 75% of the counties in its state, or in the US. A green arrow or dot means the county does better, red means worse.

Compare puts any two places side by side, counties or states, in any state. The better value in each row is highlighted.

A county gets an overall score only if all four categories have data and at least 60% of the measures are present. Small counties often have suppressed data, and without this rule they rank at the top on just a few numbers. Top 10 lists only include counties with at least 10,000 people.

What’s measured

Limitations

Sources