DoverWI
A town of 4,202, settled in 1883.
Is Dover a good place to live?
Dover grades A− overall, 143rd of 357 graded towns in Wisconsin, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $100K and natural-hazard risk is low. It also does better than most on schools: its public schools beat 64% of Wisconsin towns on state tests and graduation. A typical home there costs about $496K, 6.4 years of the Racine metro’s $78K median household income. 32% of residents are 65 or older in Dover, above both Wisconsin’s towns (20%) and U.S. towns (18%). Southern Wisconsin Home Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. Among 362 Wisconsin towns, just 9 have a lower share of children under 18 than Dover.
What makes Dover stand out
Where Dover beats most towns.
96% of working residents leave Dover for work
Where Dover’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Dover grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Dover is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Six Flags Great America and 33 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dover. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
25 mi Stadium & arenaFiserv Forum
25 mi MuseumMilwaukee Art Museum350K visitors a year
16 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre
25 mi Stadium & arenaUW–Milwaukee Panther Arena
40 mi MuseumIllinois Railway MuseumPhoto credits
Six Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Fiserv Forum: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Milwaukee Art Museum: Michael Hicks (Mulad), CC BY 2.0 · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0 · UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena: Shadowlink1014, Public domain · Illinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Moving to Dover: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dover, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Dover.
Dover gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of Wisconsin; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Wisconsin and trails Brighton and its other neighbors on schools.
Dover faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 91% of U.S. communities. Since 1988, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Dover.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Dover earns a B for schools
Each of its 5 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its B, Brighton highest at A.
Its public schools are run by the Dover #1 School District. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansasville ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 81 | A |
| DOC: Robert E Ellsworth Correctional Cen terLargest public high schoolGrades 12 | Grades 12 | – | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
Dover earns a C+ for cost of living
At 6.4 years of the Racine metro’s $78K median household income, the typical home (about $497K) costs more against local pay than in 90% of Wisconsin towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.
88% of Dover households own their home. Typical home values rose 4.7% in the year to September 2026.
| Dover | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,222 a month | $1,076 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
With 0.6 jobs for every working resident, most of Dover’s workers commute out
Jobs based here fell from 1,704 in 2013 to 1,208.
Most working residents leave Dover for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Dover fell to 1,208 in 2023, 496 fewer than in 2013. The average trip to work in Dover is 28 minutes.
| Dover | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.4% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $100,000 | $87,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.4% | 8.4% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Dover has set aside 1.1% of its land for conservation
9.3 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Dover Waterfowl Refuge, at 90 acres.
| Dover | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.1% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dover Waterfowl Refuge | — | 90 |
| 2. Eagle Lake Park | 0.1 mi | 26 |
| 3. Veterans Memorial Wayside Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
In Dover, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
The Union Grove weather station, 5 miles away, records that 41 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 76% of Wisconsin places with climate records. The Union Grove weather station, 5 miles away, records that about 9 days a year reach 90°: fewer than most of the country, but more than 77% of Wisconsin places with climate records.
Dover has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83° and January nights drop to 14°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
On CDC estimates, Dover is healthier than 61% of U.S. towns
Against the 8,574 U.S. towns with household incomes like Dover’s, it is less healthy than 58%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Dover beats the Wisconsin average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 27% of adults feel lonely in Dover.
| Dover | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 20% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 17% |
| What stands out | Dover | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.3% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.9% | 12.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.4% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Dover
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Dover
About 5 of every 100 Dover residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Wisconsin.
About Dover
Town in Wisconsin, United States
The Town of Dover is located in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,282 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Beaumont, Eagle Lake Manor, Eagle Lake Terrace, Kansasville, and Rosewood are located in the town. The census-designated place of Eagle Lake is also located in the town.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 810 ft
- Area code
- 262
Dover’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Dover.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dover | #143 | A− | C+ | — | B | B |
| Norway | #207 | B | C | — | A− | B |
| Brighton | — | — | C− | — | A | B |
| Yorkville | #162 | B+ | C− | — | A− | B+ |
| Union Grove | #102 | A− | C+ | — | B+ | B+ |
| Rochester | #121 | A− | B− | — | B+ | B+ |
Brighton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Dover, Norway, Brighton, Yorkville, Union Grove and Rochester report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Dover with a neighbor →
Questions about Dover
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Dover, WI a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Dover grades A− overall, better than 75% of U.S. towns and #143 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades B for health and B for schools.
Is Dover, WI expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.