Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
14.6% of it is conserved land. The town, settled in 1854, counts 7,740 residents.
Trash day: FridayHales Corners does the important things well, at a cost. Its standout strength is incomes: the median household earns $88K. Health is another plus: it is healthier than 83% of U.S. towns. What holds it back is cost of living (C−): the typical home is worth about $401K, 5.1 years of the Milwaukee metro’s $78K median household income. The overall grade comes out at A, 54th of 357 in Wisconsin. Set against the rest, it does better than 90% of U.S. towns. Hales Corners’ density of trails is 2.2 miles per square mile, where Wisconsin’s towns sit at 0.4 and U.S. towns at 0.4. This Wisconsin town has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them W. Ben Hunt Cabin and Root River Parkway.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · OpenStreetMap · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Hales Corners beats most towns.
14.6% of the town is conserved land, across 6 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Hales Corners is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 5,549 in 1960, 7,720 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1924 and 5 maps from 1891 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hales Corners. Close and well known come first.
10 mi Stadium & arenaFiserv Forum
10 mi MuseumMilwaukee Art Museum350K visitors a year
10 mi Stadium & arenaUW–Milwaukee Panther Arena
9 mi MuseumHarley-Davidson Museum300K visitors a year
9 mi MuseumNature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin
6 mi Zoo & aquariumMilwaukee County ZooFiserv 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 · Milwaukee County Zoo: Awkwafaba, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hales Corners, 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 Hales Corners.
Hales Corners is one of Wisconsin’s best towns for the outdoors, has seen reported crime fall by about half and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of Wisconsin.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #10 of 362 in Wisconsin.
The biggest place to walk is Whitnall Park, 230 acres with 1.1 miles of trail. In 6 parks and preserves, walkers have 6.9 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Boerner Botanical Gardens | 2.9 mi | 26 |
| 2. Potter's Forest | 1.7 mi | 52 |
| 3. Whitnall Park | 1.1 mi | 230 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Three of its 7 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Public schools: the Whitnall School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hales Corners ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 520 | A |
| Journeys Lutheran School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 3–12 | Grades 3–12 | 100 | – |
| Edgerton ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 378 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
Since 2000, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hales Corners. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage locally than in 93% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Hales Corners households in 8 declared disasters; the latest was in 2026. Expected losses in Hales Corners break down as 53% from cold waves and 26% from inland flooding.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
33% of adults have obesity in Hales Corners. Against the Wisconsin average, Hales Corners comes out ahead on 13 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1. In Hales Corners, 14% of adults report frequent mental distress, and 21% get no exercise outside work.
| Hales Corners | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 26% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Hales Corners | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.7% | 12.1% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4% | 5.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 99 to 43 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 5 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
In Hales Corners, the rate of reported violence is 0.6 per 1,000 residents. Hales Corners’ property offense rate stands at 4.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Hales Corners | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.9 per 1,000 residents | 6.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Mt Mary College weather station, 9 miles away, records that 40 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 80% of Wisconsin places with climate records. July afternoons average 82°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 78% of Wisconsin places with climate records; January nights average 13.6°.
Hales Corners’ typical July afternoon high comes in at 82°F.
| Hales Corners | 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
The median property tax bill is $5,788, against $3,792 across Wisconsin, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 8% in the year to September 2026. Among households in Hales Corners, 61% live in a home they own. The midpoint rent for Hales Corners comes to $1,335 a month.
| Hales Corners | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,335 a month | $1,076 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
For residents in Hales Corners, the share who live below the poverty line is 3.5%. Commuting out is the norm here: 4% of working residents work locally. Employers in Hales Corners added 705 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 3,127. Half of commuters travel less than 9 miles.
| Hales Corners | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.5% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 11% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
16 within 15 miles of the center of Hales Corners
About 3 of every 100 Hales Corners residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
Village in Wisconsin, United States
Hales Corners is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,720 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)
4 towns share a border with Hales Corners.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hales Corners | #54 | A | C− | B+ | A− | A− |
| Greenfield | #258 | B− | C− | C | B− | A− |
| Greendale | #101 | A− | C− | B | A− | A− |
| Franklin | #113 | A− | D | B+ | A− | A− |
| New Berlin | #52 | A | C− | B+ | A | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Hales Corners grades A overall, better than 90% of U.S. towns and #54 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 C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
2 notable people were born here, including Alyson Dudek and Zeke Dombrowski.
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