Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Delavan is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, 290th of 357 graded towns in Wisconsin, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $65K. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its schools rank behind 75% of the state's. A typical home there costs about $333K, 4.1 years of the Whitewater area’s $81K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. Delavan’s trail density is 1.2 miles per square mile, above both the Wisconsin town median (0.4) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). On history, just 49 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Congdon Gardens, at 29 acres.
Where Delavan beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,549 in 1860, 8,505 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1840 and 3 maps from 1893 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Delavan is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Delavan, 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 Delavan.
Delavan is healthier than towns with similar incomes, is safe by national standards but not by Wisconsin’s and has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of Wisconsin.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Congdon Gardens | 0.1 mi | 29 |
| 2. Delavan Memorial Arboretum | — | 19 |
| 3. Veterans Memorial Park | — | 16 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Delavan-Darien School District. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Delavan-Darien High, with 511 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 474 | C |
| Delavan-Darien HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 511 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 88% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 12.4°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 92% of Wisconsin places with climate records; July afternoons average 82.6°.
Delavan has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. At 12°F, Delavan’s January low is against 11°F in Wisconsin’s towns and 22°F across U.S. towns. About 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Delavan | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 12°F | 11°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 5 of Delavan’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Delavan is 19 minutes. Jobs based in Delavan grew to 6,035 in 2023, 375 more than in 2013.
| Delavan | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 8.2% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $88,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.2% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 27% of residents (22% statewide). Delavan has grown 8.5% since 2020, to 9,228 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 24% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Delavan.
| Delavan | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 18% | 21% | 22% |
| Median age | 38.1 years | 42.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 32% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 67% are men (WI 51%).
| Delavan | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.6% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 13.2% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.5% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.3% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.5% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.5% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.1% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.7% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.7% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.6% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.4% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.6% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 18.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 64% of Wisconsin’s graded towns.
Delavan’s violent crime rate is 2.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Delavan | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.3 per 1,000 residents | 6.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
59% of Delavan households own their home. Typical home values rose 5.8% in the year to September 2026.
| Delavan | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,094 a month | $1,076 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 10,003 U.S. towns with household incomes like Delavan’s, it is healthier than 69%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Only 5 of the 357 Wisconsin towns we compare have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Delavan. Delavan beats the Wisconsin average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| Delavan | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 7.1% | 8.1% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 20% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| What stands out | Delavan | WI |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 12.1% | 8% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 11.6% | 9.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Delavan. Close and well known come first.
Big draw40 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
13 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre
28 mi MuseumIllinois Railway Museum
32 mi State parkAztalan State Park
34 mi Stadium & arenaBMO Center
18 mi MuseumOld World WisconsinSix Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Illinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Aztalan State Park: Joshua Mayer - Flickr user wackybadger, CC BY-SA 2.0 · BMO Center: SimLibrarian, CC0 · Old World Wisconsin: Bridget Bannon, CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of Delavan; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Delavan residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
7 places in Delavan on the National Register of Historic Places.
9 notable people were born in Delavan.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Delavan is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,505 at the 2020 census. It is located 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Milwaukee. The city is located partially within the Town of Delavan, but the two entities are politically independent. Delavan is home to Delavan Lake which brings in a large number of tourists each year, and is also close to Lake Geneva, another popular tourist destination.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Delavan.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delavan | #290 | C+ | B− | B− | C | B− |
| Delavan | #213 | B | B− | A− | C | B |
| Darien | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Delavan Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Darien and Delavan Lake aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Delavan with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Delavan grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #290 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades B− for health, B− for safety and C for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
9 notable people were born here, including Ned Hollister and Kenneth Goff.
