Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Waukesha’s best subject grades are an A+ for incomes and an A for cost of living; its weakest is a C− for walkability. On incomes, just 4 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns do better. Barney House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Waukesha has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and health, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
Where Waukesha beats most towns.
Where Waukesha’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Waukesha is from typical.
Waukesha has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and health, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,456 in 1860, 71,158 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1841 and 3 maps from 1954 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Waukesha. Close and well known come first.
18 mi Stadium & arenaFiserv Forum
19 mi MuseumMilwaukee Art Museum350K visitors a year
18 mi Stadium & arenaUW–Milwaukee Panther Arena
18 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre
18 mi MuseumHarley-Davidson Museum300K visitors a year
18 mi MuseumNature & Culture Museum of WisconsinFiserv 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 · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0 · 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 Waukesha, 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 Waukesha.
0.9% of Waukesha working residents work locally, below both the Wisconsin town median (8.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Jobs based in Waukesha grew to 1,447 in 2023, 205 more than in 2013. Waukesha’s median household income is $131,000.
| Waukesha | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $131,000 | $87,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 18% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 3% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.9% | 8.4% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Waukesha School District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rose Glen ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 490 | A |
| Waukesha Christian Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 46 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
Waukesha has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 13° and about 37 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Waukesha since 2008.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
4.9 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Fox River Park, 191 acres with 2.6 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fox River Park | 2.6 mi | 191 |
| 2. Minooka County Park | 1.3 mi | 134 |
| 3. Retzer Nature Center | — | 110 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
11 within 15 miles of the center of Waukesha
About 4 of every 100 Waukesha residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
39 notable people were born in Waukesha.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Waukesha ( WAW-ki-shaw) is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 71,158 at the 2020 census. Located along the Fox River adjacent to the Village of Waukesha, it is the seventh-most populous city in Wisconsin. Waukesha is also part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Waukesha.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waukesha | — | — | A | — | B− | — |
| Waukesha | #184 | B+ | C− | B | B− | A− |
| Genesee | #166 | B+ | C | — | B | A− |
| New Berlin | #52 | A | C− | B+ | A | A |
| Vernon | — | — | A− | — | A | — |
| Mukwonago | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Waukesha, Genesee and Vernon report no FBI crime data of their own. Waukesha, Vernon and Mukwonago aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Waukesha with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Waukesha has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and health, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $416,000. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
39 notable people were born here, including Les Paul and Vernor Vinge.
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