Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Franklin grades A− overall, 113th of 357 graded towns in Wisconsin. Natural-hazard risk is low. The median household earns $107K and it is healthier than 84% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $436K, 5.6 years of the Milwaukee metro’s $78K median household income. Franklin is home to Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. On the outdoors, just 71 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Root River Parkway, at 1,954 acres.
Where Franklin beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Franklin is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 14%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 10,006 in 1960, 36,816 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1852 and 5 maps from 1891 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Franklin. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
12 mi Stadium & arenaFiserv Forum
12 mi MuseumMilwaukee Art Museum350K visitors a year
12 mi Stadium & arenaUW–Milwaukee Panther Arena
11 mi MuseumHarley-Davidson Museum300K visitors a year
12 mi MuseumNature & Culture Museum of WisconsinSix 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 · UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena: Shadowlink1014, Public domain · Harley-Davidson Museum: Dori, CC BY-SA 3.0 us · Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin: The original uploader was Sulfur at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Franklin, 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 Franklin.
Franklin pairs an A− for schools with high home prices, sees little violent crime and has cooler summers than most of the country, though not than most of Wisconsin.
For Franklin, that is against 3.8% in Wisconsin’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. 23 miles of trail in 20 parks and preserves. Franklin’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Franklin | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.7% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Whitnall Park | 6.9 mi | 393 |
| 2. Grobschmidt Park | 2.1 mi | 141 |
| 3. Root River Parkway | 0.7 mi | 1,954 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $436K.
Its public schools are run by the Franklin Public School District. Three of its 11 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Park MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,056 | A |
| Franklin HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,605 | A |
| Pleasant View ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 422 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities. Since 2006, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Franklin.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Franklin, where Wisconsin’s towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 17%. 11% of adults smoke cigarettes in Franklin. Franklin beats the Wisconsin average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| Franklin | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 26% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 36% |
| What stands out | Franklin | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.6% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.1% | 5.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median property tax bill is $6,354, against $3,792 across Wisconsin, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The median rent in Franklin is $1,458 a month. The typical Franklin home is worth about $436,000, up 3.7% in a year, 29% above the Wisconsin typical home.
| Franklin | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,458 a month | $1,076 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 77% | 74% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Violent crime is rare: 19 reported in 2025, 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
July afternoons average 82.2°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 83% of Wisconsin places with climate records; January nights average 14°.
Franklin has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 49 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Franklin | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 14°F | 11°F | 22°F |
| July high | 82°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Franklin for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs based in Franklin grew to 13,780 in 2023, 1,527 more than in 2013. 16% of Franklin workers work from home.
| Franklin | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $107,000 | $87,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 16% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.7% | 6.3% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
14 within 15 miles of the center of Franklin
About 4 of every 100 Franklin residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
3 notable people were born in Franklin.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Franklin is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 36,816 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Franklin.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | #113 | A− | D | B+ | A− | A− |
| Greendale | #101 | A− | C− | B | A− | A− |
| Muskego | #43 | A | C− | B+ | A+ | A |
| Hales Corners | #54 | A | C− | B+ | A− | A− |
| Oak Creek | #176 | B+ | C− | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Raymond | #188 | B+ | C− | — | A− | B |
| Greenfield | #258 | B− | C− | C | B− | A− |
Raymond reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Franklin with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Franklin grades A− overall, better than 81% of U.S. towns and #113 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades A− for health, B+ for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
3 notable people were born here, including Rick Boogs and Thomas F. Konop.
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