Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Fort Atkinson gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $309K for a typical one, or 3.7 years of the Watertown area’s $84K median household income. It grades B+ overall, 191st among Wisconsin's 357 graded towns. On the plus side, 5% of its land is conserved. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 9 places on the National Register. 28% of working residents work locally in Fort Atkinson, above both Wisconsin’s towns (8.2%) and U.S. towns (8%). On hazard risk, just 66 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Arthur R. Hoard House and Main Street Historic District.
Where Fort Atkinson beats most towns.
Census counts: 334 in 1850, 12,579 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1853 and 4 maps from 1891 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Fort Atkinson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fort Atkinson, 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 Fort Atkinson.
Fort Atkinson 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; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Wisconsin (mostly inland flooding).
4.8 miles of trail in 15 parks and preserves. The trail density in Fort Atkinson is 0.8 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Rock River Park, at 94 acres.
| Fort Atkinson | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.8% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bark River Nature Park | 1.9 mi | 72 |
| 2. Rock River Park | 0.8 mi | 94 |
| 3. Jones Park | 0.3 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Fort Atkinson School District. Two of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Atkinson MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 467 | B |
| Fort Atkinson HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 816 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
January nights average 12°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 89% of Wisconsin places with climate records; July afternoons average 82.8°.
Fort Atkinson has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Fort Atkinson’s January low is 12°F. About 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Fort Atkinson | 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 4 of Fort Atkinson’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Jefferson (7%), Madison (6%) and Whitewater (4%). Half commute less than 15 miles.
| Fort Atkinson | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 9.7% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.7% | 6.3% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 93% of Wisconsin towns, with expected losses of about $645 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1979, 49 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fort Atkinson.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
26% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 33% across Wisconsin.
| Fort Atkinson | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 43.5 years | 42.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 20% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 32% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.8 points. Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Fort Atkinson | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.5% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.5% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.5% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.5% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.1% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.2% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.8% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.7% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.7% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.6% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.8% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.3% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.9% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical Fort Atkinson home is worth about $309,000, up 4.2% in a year, 8% below the Wisconsin typical home.
| Fort Atkinson | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $961 a month | $1,080 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 74% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 16.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 56% of Wisconsin’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 143 to 78 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Fort Atkinson tracks Wisconsin closely on all 32 CDC measures. 42% of Fort Atkinson adults have obesity.
| Fort Atkinson | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 20% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort Atkinson. Close and well known come first.
30 mi Stadium & arenaCamp Randall Stadium
11 mi State parkAztalan State Park
25 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre
29 mi Stadium & arenaKohl Center
30 mi Zoo & aquariumHenry Vilas Zoo
20 mi Theme parkLittle AmerrickaCamp Randall Stadium: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Aztalan State Park: Joshua Mayer - Flickr user wackybadger, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kohl Center: Pbrown111 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Henry Vilas Zoo: Corey Coyle, CC BY 3.0 · Little Amerricka: Dklompmaker, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Fort Atkinson
About 4 of every 100 Fort Atkinson residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
9 places in Fort Atkinson on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Fort Atkinson.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Fort Atkinson is a city in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. It lies along the Rock River a few miles upstream from Lake Koshkonong. The population was 12,579 at the 2020 census. Fort Atkinson is the largest city located entirely in Jefferson County, as Watertown is split between Jefferson and Dodge counties. Fort Atkinson is a principal city of the Watertown–Fort Atkinson micropolitan statistical area, which is, in turn, a sub-market of the larger Milwaukee–Waukesha–Racine combined statistical area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Fort Atkinson.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Atkinson | #191 | B+ | B+ | B | B− | B− |
| Koshkonong | #248 | B− | B− | — | B− | B− |
Koshkonong reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Fort Atkinson with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Fort Atkinson grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #191 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades B− for health, B for safety and B− for schools.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
14 notable people were born here, including Josh Sawyer and Keith Neubert.
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