Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Beaver Dam is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B overall, 214th of 357 graded towns in Wisconsin, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: it reports less crime per resident than 56% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $293K, 3.9 years of the Beaver Dam area’s $76K median household income. 26% of working residents work locally in Beaver Dam, above both the Wisconsin town median (8.2%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Only 67 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns score higher on history. Beaver Dam is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns.
Where Beaver Dam beats most towns.
Williams Free Library
Census counts: 2,765 in 1860, 16,708 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1858 and 3 maps from 1955 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Beaver Dam is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Beaver Dam, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Beaver Dam.
Beaver Dam is healthier than towns with similar incomes, trades workers with Madison and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Wisconsin’s.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 86% of U.S. communities. Since 2008, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Beaver Dam.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Beaver Dam Unified School District. Three of its 11 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaver Dam MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 633 | C+ |
| Beaver Dam HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,031 | C− |
| Prairie View ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 337 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
Beaver Dam has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 10° and about 43 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Beaver Dam has about as many jobs (8,297) as working residents, but only 2,117 people both live and work here.
About one in 4 of Beaver Dam’s working residents works in town. Beaver Dam’s median household income is $67,000. The top destinations are Madison (11%), Juneau (4%) and Horicon (3%).
| Beaver Dam | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $67,000 | $88,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.5% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.9% | 6.3% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1.3 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Edgewater Park, at 109 acres. The trail density in Beaver Dam is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Beaver Dam | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.4% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Swan Park | 0.3 mi | 11 |
| 2. YMCA of Dodge County Park | 0.3 mi | 11 |
| 3. Edgewater Park | — | 109 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
55% of Beaver Dam households own their home. Typical home values rose 4.5% in the year to September 2026.
| Beaver Dam | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $959 a month | $1,080 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
25% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 33% across Wisconsin.
| Beaver Dam | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 25% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 21% | 22% |
| Median age | 40.1 years | 42.1 years | 40.5 years |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.5 points. Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 43.7, men 37.2.
| Beaver Dam | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.2% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.4% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.1% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.2% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.9% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.6% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.9% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.3% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.4% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 39.1% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.9% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.5% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.8% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.3% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 16 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 56% of Wisconsin’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 229 to 137 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 10,155 U.S. towns with household incomes like Beaver Dam’s, it is healthier than 75%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
Beaver Dam tracks Wisconsin closely on all 32 CDC measures.
| Beaver Dam | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 20% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 33% | 35% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Beaver Dam; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Beaver Dam residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
8 places in Beaver Dam on the National Register of Historic Places.
20 notable people were born in Beaver Dam.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Beaver Dam is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States, along Beaver Dam Lake and the Beaver Dam River. The population was 16,708 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city primarily located in Dodge County. It is the principal city of the Beaver Dam Micropolitan Statistical area which is included in the larger Milwaukee–Waukesha–Racine CSA. The city is adjacent to the Town of Beaver Dam.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Beaver Dam.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaver Dam | #214 | B | B | B | C+ | B |
| Beaver Dam | #203 | B | B | — | C+ | B− |
| Trenton | — | — | B | — | B− | B− |
| Westford | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | B− |
Trenton and Westford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Beaver Dam, Trenton and Westford report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Beaver Dam with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Beaver Dam grades B overall, better than 61% of U.S. towns and #214 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades B for health, B for safety and C+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
20 notable people were born here, including Delia Akeley and Bobby Hatfield.
