Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Beaver Dam is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B overall, 203rd of 357 graded towns in Wisconsin, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $82K. A typical home there costs about $261K, 3.4 years of the Beaver Dam area’s $76K median household income. Beaver Dam’s median age is 54 years, above both the Wisconsin town median (42.1 years) and the median of U.S. towns (40.5 years). Only 53 of Wisconsin’s 869 towns score lower on civic life. The biggest park or preserve is Shaw Marsh Wildlife Area, at 910 acres.
Where Beaver Dam beats most towns.
Where Beaver Dam’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Beaver Dam is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,765 in 1860, 16,708 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1858 and 3 maps from 1955 on.
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.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 86% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Beaver Dam for work: only 3% work in town. The average trip to work in Beaver Dam is 20 minutes. Since 2013, Beaver Dam has added 60 jobs, to 1,025 in 2023.
| Beaver Dam | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Work from home | 8.6% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 13% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 27% of residents (19% statewide). 15% of residents are under 18 in Beaver Dam. 27% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 33% across Wisconsin.
| Beaver Dam | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 15% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 27% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 27% | 32% | 29% |
46% women, 54% men
About 118 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.9 points). Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Beaver Dam | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.7% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.3% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.9% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.4% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 7.3% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.4% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.1% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 20% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.9% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.8% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 35.7% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.5% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.2% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.7% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.1% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,100, single groups can be off by several points
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 | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.6% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crystal Lake Park | 0.4 mi | 48 |
| 2. Shaw Marsh Wildlife Area | — | 910 |
| 3. Edgewater Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Beaver Dam tracks Wisconsin closely on all 32 CDC measures. 42% of Beaver Dam adults have obesity.
| Beaver Dam | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 20% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 33% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 26% | 25% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Beaver Dam; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Beaver Dam residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
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)
7 towns share a border with Beaver Dam.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaver Dam | #203 | B | B | — | C+ | B− |
| Beaver Dam | #214 | B | B | B | C+ | B |
| Trenton | — | — | B | — | B− | B− |
| Lowell | — | — | B− | — | C+ | B− |
| Westford | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | B− |
| Oak Grove | — | — | A− | — | B+ | C+ |
| Calamus | — | — | B− | — | B− | B |
| Burnett | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Trenton, Lowell, Westford, Oak Grove and Calamus have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Beaver Dam, Trenton, Lowell, Westford, Oak Grove and Calamus report no FBI crime data of their own. Burnett isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). 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 63% of U.S. towns and #203 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades B− for health 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.
