Wisconsin cities

The best places to live in Wisconsin

Wisconsin's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Caledonia leads the list.

We scored Wisconsin's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 10 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
22 Appleton $165,900 $833 57 56
31 Madison $277,800 $1,212 33 49
32 Waukesha $232,700 $1,032 43 49
39 Janesville $160,300 $912 49 41
40 Kenosha $168,800 $996 42 41
41 Eau Claire $178,000 $851 36 40
42 Green Bay $151,000 $805 42 40
43 Oshkosh $139,900 $812 53 39
51 Racine $125,600 $893 44 30
57 Milwaukee $135,600 $910 21 16

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within Wisconsin. Updated 2026.