Carl and Therese Schauwitzer House · Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0Muskego’s library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Muskego Public Library serves Muskego’s 26,878 residents. Last year it lent 305K books, movies and e-books and logged 132K visits.
What Muskego’s library is like
Muskego uses its library more than almost any town its size
Muskego Public Library logs 4.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 9.3 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Muskego out-borrows every town next door
At 11.3 loans per resident, Muskego leads the four towns here. The closest is New Berlin, at 10.9. Libraries next door ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Muskego last year. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Muskego’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Muskego is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #154 of 358 in Wisconsin. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Muskego’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
76 community nonprofits are registered in Muskego
3.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.9%
10.9% of Muskego’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Wisconsin town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Muskego’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Muskego last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Muskego Public Library serves 26,878 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 95 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
305K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 137K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
54,472 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Muskego Public Library, S73 W16663 Janesville Rd., Muskego.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Muskego? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Muskego cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 10,914 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Muskego borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muskego | Muskego Public Library | 11.3 | 62 | B+ |
| New Berlin | New Berlin Public Library | 10.9 | 66 | B+ |
| Franklin | Franklin Public Library | 10.2 | 61 | B |
| Big Bend | Big Bend Village Library | 9.3 | 43 | A |
| Vernon | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Norway | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Wind Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Muskego Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Muskego
Does Muskego have a public library?
Yes. Muskego Public Library, S73 W16663 Janesville Rd., serves Muskego’s 26,878 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Muskego Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Muskego’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 11.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Muskego’s civic life grade?
B+ Muskego is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #154 of 358 in Wisconsin. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Muskego.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.