Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Janesville is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, ranked 307th of 357 in Wisconsin, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $73K. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its schools rank behind 62% of the state's. A typical home there costs about $296K, 3.9 years of the Janesville metro’s $76K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 37 places on the National Register. 40% of working residents work locally in Janesville, where Wisconsin’s towns sit at 8.2% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include Janesville Public Library and Tallman House. Only 78 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns score higher on the outdoors.
Where Janesville beats most towns.
Its 37 National Register listings are more than in 97% of Wisconsin towns with a listing.
Census counts: 7,703 in 1860, 65,615 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1844 and 3 maps from 1891 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Janesville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Janesville, 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 Janesville.
Janesville costs less than Rock or any other town next door, 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.
The biggest place to walk is Rockport Park, 283 acres with 11.1 miles of trail. Count the trails in 47 parks and preserves and they come to 24 miles. The trail density for Janesville comes to 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rockport Park | 11.1 mi | 283 |
| 2. Robert O Cook Memorial Arboretum | 6.3 mi | 145 |
| 3. Palmer Park | 2 mi | 181 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Three of its 28 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The Janesville School District runs its public schools. Also worth knowing: the 6 public schools in Janesville teach 2,349 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 747 | C+ |
| Craig HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,400 | C |
| Roosevelt ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 412 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
January nights average 12.5°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 93% of Wisconsin places with climate records; July afternoons average 83.2°.
About 37 inches of snow falls in a winter. Only 7 of the 362 Wisconsin towns we compare have a higher typical July afternoon high than Janesville. Its January low stands at 13°F.
| Janesville | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 13°F | 11°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs in Janesville grew by 5,850 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 33,343. For half of commuters, work is under 11 miles away. The town’s average trip to work comes in at 22 minutes. The top destinations are Madison (9%), Beloit (6%) and Milton (2%).
| Janesville | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 9.5% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $88,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 9% | 6.3% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 23.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 81% of Wisconsin’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,310 to 1,123 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
In Janesville, the property offense rate is 15.6 per 1,000 residents. Its violent crime rate is 1.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Janesville | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15.6 per 1,000 residents | 6.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Rock is next at $346K.
A home in Janesville typically sold within 47 days of listing. Home values are up 5.3% over the year to September 2026. Two thirds of Janesville households are owner-occupiers.
| Janesville | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 67% | 74% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 42% | 39% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,054 a month | $1,080 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
27% of adults 25 and older hold at least a bachelor’s degree, against 33% across Wisconsin. By age, Janesville looks like Wisconsin: each broad group is within 4 points. The share of residents in Janesville who are 65 or older: 18%.
| Janesville | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 27% | 32% | 29% |
| Median age | 40.7 years | 42.1 years | 40.5 years |
50.9% women, 49.1% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.9 points. Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 41.9, men 39.2.
| Janesville | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.6% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.6% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.5% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.8% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.4% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.4% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.2% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.6% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.5% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.6% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.8% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.5% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The town tracks Wisconsin closely on all 32 CDC measures. 17% of adults binge drink in Janesville.
| Janesville | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 20% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 32% | 36% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 52 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Janesville. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 50% come from inland flooding and 19% from cold waves. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Janesville after 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2026.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Janesville
About 5 of every 100 Janesville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Wisconsin.
37 places in Janesville on the National Register of Historic Places.
41 notable people were born in Janesville.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Janesville is a city in, and the county seat of Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 65,615 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 66,428 in 2024, making it the tenth-most populous city in Wisconsin. The Janesville–Beloit Metropolitan statistical area, consisting solely of Rock County, has an estimated 165,461 residents in the 2024 estimate. It is located along the Rock River in southern Wisconsin.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Janesville.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Janesville | #307 | C+ | C+ | C+ | C+ | C+ |
| Janesville | #291 | C+ | C− | — | B− | C+ |
| Harmony | #198 | B | C | — | A− | B− |
| Rock | #332 | C | C+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| La Prairie | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Janesville, Harmony and Rock report no FBI crime data of their own. La Prairie isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Janesville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Janesville grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #307 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and C+ for schools.
Wisconsin has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Janesville sits nearer the middle.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
41 notable people were born here, including Paul Ryan and Russ Feingold.
