Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Kenosha's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades C−, 333rd among Wisconsin's 357 graded towns. Its weakest subject is schools: its public schools trail 79% of Wisconsin towns on state tests and graduation. 29% of working residents work locally in Kenosha, where Wisconsin’s towns sit at 8.2% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include Kemper Hall and John McCaffary House. Among 362 Wisconsin towns, just 9 have a higher January low than Kenosha.
Where Kenosha beats most towns.
Justin Weed House| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Gateway Technical College | 8,622 |
| Carthage College | 2,770 |
| Herzing University-Kenosha | 346 |
Its founding year, 1835, comes before those of 94% of the Wisconsin towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 3,455 in 1850, 99,986 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1842 and 4 maps from 1892 on.
22 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Kenosha is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kenosha, 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 Kenosha.
Kenosha costs less than Somers or any other town next door and is safe by national standards but not by Wisconsin’s; it also scores below Paris and its other neighbors on health.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 96% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 17 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Kenosha.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Kenosha School District. Three of its 39 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahone MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,025 | B− |
| Indian Trail High School and AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,902 | C |
| Nash ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 576 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
15 miles of trail in 36 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Poerio Park, at 80 acres.
| Kenosha | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.1% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lincoln Park | 1.4 mi | 42 |
| 2. Washington Park | 0.6 mi | 43 |
| 3. Harbor Park | 0.4 mi | 30 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Kenosha has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 16° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
All 4 graded neighbors score healthier than its C+, from Paris (B−) to Bristol (A−).
12% of Kenosha adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Kenosha beats the Wisconsin average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 76% of Kenosha adults had a checkup this year.
| Kenosha | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 7.1% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 10% | 14% |
| What stands out | Kenosha | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.2% | 8.6% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 14% | 9.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here grew from 29,311 in 2013 to 39,381.
About one in 3 of Kenosha’s working residents works in town. 14% of residents live below the poverty line in Kenosha. Jobs based in Kenosha grew to 39,381 in 2023, 10,070 more than in 2013.
| Kenosha | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 6.3% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $88,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.7% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Somers is next at $386K.
The typical Kenosha home is worth about $282,000, up 6.5% in a year, 16% below the Wisconsin typical home.
| Kenosha | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 74% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 49% | 39% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The median age in Kenosha is 37.1 years. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 33% across Wisconsin.
| Kenosha | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 37.1 years | 42.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 23% | 21% | 22% |
51.9% women, 48.1% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.5, men 36.6.
| Kenosha | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.6% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.7% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.5% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.3% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.2% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.7% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.3% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.8% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.7% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.7% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.7% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.9% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.1% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 22 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 76% of Wisconsin’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,362 to 1,049 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Kenosha’s violent crime rate is 3.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Kenosha | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.3 per 1,000 residents | 6.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kenosha. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
32 mi Stadium & arenaFiserv Forum
37 mi MuseumMcDonald's #1 Store Museum
31 mi MuseumMilwaukee Art Museum350K visitors a year
32 mi Stadium & arenaUW–Milwaukee Panther Arena
30 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music TheatreSix Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Fiserv Forum: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · McDonald's #1 Store Museum: Bruce Marlin, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Milwaukee Art Museum: Michael Hicks (Mulad), CC BY 2.0 · UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena: Shadowlink1014, Public domain · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0
5 within 15 miles of the center of Kenosha
About 7 of every 100 Kenosha residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Wisconsin.
3 colleges in town.
22 places in Kenosha on the National Register of Historic Places.
49 notable people were born in Kenosha.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Kenosha ( ) is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, it is the fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with 99,986 residents at the 2020 census. The Kenosha metropolitan statistical area, consisting solely of Kenosha County, has roughly 169,000 residents. Kenosha is a satellite city located roughly 32 miles (51 km) south of Milwaukee and 50 miles (80 km) north of Chicago via Interstate 94 and has significant cultural and economic connections to both cities. Founded in 1835 and incorporated in 1850, Kenosha developed as a port and manufacturing center and remained a regional hub for automotive and durable …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Kenosha.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenosha | #333 | C− | C+ | C+ | C− | C+ |
| Pleasant Prairie | #311 | C+ | C− | C+ | C− | B+ |
| Somers · Somers | #338 | C− | C− | — | C− | B+ |
| Bristol | #31 | A | C | — | A− | A− |
| Paris | — | — | C+ | — | A− | B− |
Paris has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Somers, Bristol and Paris report no FBI crime data of their own. Somers and Somers are one community, graded once. Compare Kenosha with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Kenosha grades C− overall, better than 25% of U.S. towns and #333 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 3.5 years of the area's median household income ($81,239 across the Kenosha, WI metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
49 notable people were born here, including Orson Welles and Mark Ruffalo.
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