The 10 Best Places To Buy A House In Wisconsin For 2022


Using science and data, we can tell you which places in Wisconsin have seen home prices rising and people flocking over the past year.

HomeSnacks is reader-supported. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
Editor’s note: This is not investment advice and we are not financial advisers. Article updated for 2022.

There's a the age old question everyone thinks about when they decide to move to a city in Wisconsin:

Should I buy a place or rent? Well, we aren't here today to solve that problem for you exactly. We are just assuming you'll do the right thing and a buy a place. And while we are happy to tell you the best place to live in Wisconsin, this analysis is going to tackle the question of the best place to buy a house as an investor. That is we are going to try and determine the up and coming cities in the Badger State.

To do that we are going to look at places in Wisconsin that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average. In every day terms, the "deals". The best deal in Wisconsin at the moment? That would be West Salem according to our analysis.

Here's a look at the top ten places to buy a home in Wisconsin for 2022.

The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Wisconsin For 2022

  1. West Salem
  2. Union Grove
  3. Columbus
  4. North Fond du Lac
  5. Bristol
  6. Rothschild
  7. Evansville
  8. Berlin
  9. Slinger
  10. Waterford

What's the best place to buy a home in Wisconsin for 2022? According to our analysis, would the the ideal place to buy a home looking into the future.

The methodology that wen't into this can be a bit complicated, so we'll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below. If you're not worried about finding a deal on good places to live, check out the most expensive places to live in Wisconsin and, for those of you on a budget, the cheapest places to live in Wisconsin.

For more Wisconsin reading, check out:

The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Wisconsin For 2022

1. West Salem

West Salem, WI

Source: Wikipedia User Royalbroil | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,010
Median Home Price: $190,400
Population Change: 0.1%
Home Price Change: 3.8%
More on West Salem: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

2. Union Grove

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,031
Median Home Price: $193,700
Population Change: 1.4%
Home Price Change: 11.3%
More on Union Grove: Homes For Sale | Data

3. Columbus

Columbus, WI

Source: Wikipedia User User:Royalbroil | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,076
Median Home Price: $169,700
Population Change: 0.4%
Home Price Change: 2.6%
More on Columbus: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

4. North Fond Du Lac

North Fond Du Lac, WI

Source: Wikipedia User User:Royalbroil | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 5,076
Median Home Price: $112,700
Population Change: 0.0%
Home Price Change: -0.8%
More on North Fond Du Lac: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

5. Bristol

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,079
Median Home Price: $277,200
Population Change: 0.8%
Home Price Change: 4.0%
More on Bristol: Homes For Sale | Data

6. Rothschild

Rothschild, WI

Source: Wikipedia User self | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 5,286
Median Home Price: $143,400
Population Change: -0.0%
Home Price Change: -0.4%
More on Rothschild: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

7. Evansville

Evansville, WI

Source: Wikipedia User Ruralhistorian | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,374
Median Home Price: $192,600
Population Change: 1.2%
Home Price Change: 3.0%
More on Evansville: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

8. Berlin

Berlin, WI

Source: Wikipedia User Royalbroil | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,410
Median Home Price: $103,800
Population Change: 0.5%
Home Price Change: -4.8%
More on Berlin: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

9. Slinger

Slinger, WI

Source: Wikipedia User Midnightcomm | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,500
Median Home Price: $266,600
Population Change: 2.1%
Home Price Change: 3.7%
More on Slinger: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

10. Waterford

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,520
Median Home Price: $211,200
Population Change: 1.2%
Home Price Change: -0.1%
More on Waterford: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Wisconsin for 2022?

We were in real estate for almost five years and have been working on this site for another three. Suffice is to say, we've put a lot of thought into what goes into finding a good place to buy a home.

So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we'd approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Wisconsin. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Wisconsin with undervalued homes relative to pent up demand.

Richest Cities In Wisconsin

To do that we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2016-2020 and compared it to the previous vintage (2012-2016). Specifically, we used the following criteria:

  • Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
  • Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
  • Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It's still kinda cheap)

We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still "cheap" for Wisconsin with the following caveats:

So of the 0 cities and towns in Wisconsin, only 142 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.

We then ranked each place from 1 to 142 for the criteria mentioned above with 1 being the best for that criteria. We averaged the rankings to create a "best place to buy" index with the place having the lowest index being the best. You can download the data here.

Turns out that West Salem is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Badger State.

Read on for more on these places.

Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Wisconsin for 2022

There's our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Wisconsin. And, to be clear, we aren't necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.

In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.

So if we'd could rent or buy in these cities, we'd definitely buy.

For more Wisconsin reading, check out:

Home Prices By City In Wisconsin

City Rank Median Home Price Population Change Home Price Increase
West Salem 1 $190,400 0.1% 3.8%
Union Grove 2 $193,700 1.4% 11.3%
Columbus 3 $169,700 0.4% 2.6%
North Fond Du Lac 4 $112,700 0.0% -0.8%
Bristol 5 $277,200 0.8% 4.0%
Rothschild 6 $143,400 -0.0% -0.4%
Evansville 7 $192,600 1.2% 3.0%
Berlin 8 $103,800 0.5% -4.8%
Slinger 9 $266,600 2.1% 3.7%
Waterford 10 $211,200 1.2% -0.1%
Edgerton 11 $163,300 0.8% 3.2%
Milton 12 $156,600 0.4% 4.5%
Prairie Du Chien 13 $116,000 -0.5% -1.8%
Waupaca 14 $121,400 -0.6% 15.7%
Lake Mills 15 $197,400 0.7% -0.4%
Twin Lakes 16 $223,500 0.4% 9.7%
Elm Grove 17 $395,500 0.0% 6.7%
Sturtevant 18 $172,900 0.0% 7.9%
Fox Point 19 $336,000 -0.4% 3.2%
Lake Hallie 20 $191,200 0.6% 5.0%
Kimberly 21 $150,100 0.5% 2.2%
Cottage Grove 22 $294,300 0.9% 6.1%
New London 23 $142,400 3.5% 6.8%
Jackson 24 $211,500 1.0% 0.8%
Mount Horeb 25 $277,700 0.6% 5.6%
Delafield 26 $374,900 1.1% -3.2%
Hales Corners 27 $231,200 -0.5% 2.3%
Rhinelander 28 $89,100 0.6% -1.7%
Altoona 29 $184,600 1.9% 17.1%
Antigo 30 $69,400 -0.0% -7.5%
Ripon 31 $121,800 0.3% -0.8%
Ashland 32 $110,300 -0.6% 2.4%
Lake Geneva 33 $214,600 -0.3% 8.8%
Kronenwetter 34 $192,000 1.2% 11.4%
Sheboygan Falls 35 $145,400 0.1% -1.0%
Jefferson 36 $164,500 0.3% 1.2%
Pewaukee 37 $198,600 -0.3% -5.9%
Monona 38 $288,700 0.2% 6.1%
Mukwonago 39 $254,300 1.3% 6.2%
Delavan 40 $146,300 -0.1% 1.0%
Rice Lake 41 $137,000 0.6% 5.2%
Plymouth 42 $152,700 0.7% 5.5%
Mcfarland 43 $260,800 2.3% 4.7%
Sturgeon Bay 44 $154,100 0.5% 4.8%
Shawano 45 $98,600 -0.5% -0.3%
Merrill 46 $86,100 -0.3% 0.9%
New Richmond 47 $199,800 2.0% 10.9%
Hartland 48 $295,600 0.5% 1.1%
Tomah 49 $128,200 -0.4% 6.3%
Hobart 50 $267,400 4.9% -1.3%
Reedsburg 51 $149,100 0.0% 5.1%
St. Francis 52 $159,000 0.5% 4.6%
Sparta 53 $129,800 0.3% 5.3%
Holmen 54 $206,100 1.7% 4.3%
Elkhorn 55 $186,500 1.1% 5.5%
Portage 56 $143,400 0.1% 14.5%
Deforest 57 $243,400 2.9% 3.7%
Oregon 58 $286,000 1.5% 11.5%
Marinette 59 $86,000 -0.4% -0.5%
Monroe 60 $137,200 -0.5% 8.8%
Sussex 61 $288,800 0.5% 0.9%
Burlington 62 $210,900 0.6% 13.8%
Two Rivers 63 $93,400 -0.7% -1.0%
Waupun 64 $127,300 -0.1% 5.6%
Cedarburg 65 $325,300 0.6% 7.2%
Little Chute 66 $161,700 1.9% 7.2%
Grafton 67 $241,000 0.6% 2.6%
Richfield 68 $341,700 0.8% 5.6%
Port Washington 69 $213,400 1.0% 7.8%
Brown Deer 70 $169,800 0.2% 1.6%
Platteville 71 $155,600 -1.2% 2.1%
Baraboo 72 $153,700 -0.0% 0.7%
Fort Atkinson 73 $161,500 0.1% 2.9%
Suamico 74 $265,600 1.5% 6.5%
Glendale 75 $219,500 -0.4% -0.6%
Plover 76 $189,700 1.4% 8.2%
Stoughton 77 $223,000 0.4% 2.2%
Verona 78 $316,100 1.6% 1.7%
Shorewood 79 $352,600 -0.3% 4.2%
Allouez 80 $166,100 -0.2% 4.3%
Whitefish Bay 81 $393,300 -0.6% 1.6%
Waunakee 82 $358,100 1.3% 3.4%
Hudson 83 $255,100 0.8% 4.8%
Greendale 84 $227,700 -0.1% 5.0%
Chippewa Falls 85 $151,100 0.7% 11.8%
Pewaukee 86 $336,400 0.9% 6.7%
Whitewater 87 $171,300 0.3% 1.5%
Weston 88 $163,500 0.2% 2.1%
Hartford 89 $196,400 1.7% 4.5%
Bellevue 90 $195,500 0.7% 3.8%
River Falls 91 $222,300 1.5% 12.8%
Kaukauna 92 $148,200 0.6% 4.0%
Beaver Dam 93 $141,000 -0.1% 5.9%
Menomonie 94 $152,200 0.4% 4.8%
Oconomowoc 95 $271,700 1.4% 4.8%
Ashwaubenon 96 $179,900 -0.1% 5.5%
Wisconsin Rapids 97 $89,500 -0.4% -1.8%
Cudahy 98 $157,100 -0.3% 2.7%
Marshfield 99 $139,700 -0.0% -1.1%
Menasha 100 $134,500 0.9% 2.6%
Download The Entire Wisconsin Ranking Data

How Is The Area In ?

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

 Buy A House