Safest Counties in Wisconsin: 27 Ranked (2026)
The 27 Wisconsin counties where police report enough to the FBI to build a reliable rate, ranked by violent crime, with home prices, asking rents and incomes where available.
Wisconsin has 72 counties. Twenty-seven of them clear the reporting bar this page uses, and the gap between the quietest, Waukesha at 66 violent offenses per 100,000, and the busiest, Milwaukee at 762, is 12 to one. What homes closed at over the last 12 months sits beside the rate where Resideline has enough sales to publish a median: 44,769 closing records tracked in the 20 counties that clear that bar.
The crime rates here are built from the 4,614,328 residents those police agencies actually report on, over the months they reported. Each figure is a single county-wide figure, so treat this as a way to narrow a search rather than a verdict on any street.
We do not treat missing or conflicting crime data as zero. A county appears here only when its reporting clears our reliability threshold, and we set aside results that conflict materially with the state's own records. Whether a county is ranked depends on its crime reporting alone; whether it shows a price depends on whether Resideline tracked enough closings there.
The ranking
| # | County | Violent per 100k | Property per 100k | Median closed price | Median asking rent | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waukesha | 66 | 597 | $480,000 | $1,825 | $103,789 |
| 2 | Waupaca | 76 | 276 | $240,500 | $1,175 | $76,754 |
| 3 | Ozaukee | 80 | 447 | $476,000 | $1,695 | $105,783 |
| 4 | St. Croix | 83 | 555 | $415,507 | $1,725 | $99,439 |
| 5 | Columbia | 89 | 457 | n/a | n/a | $85,096 |
| 6 | Washington | 93 | 600 | n/a | n/a | $90,279 |
| 7 | Calumet | 97 | 267 | $319,900 | $1,219 | $94,597 |
| 8 | Grant | 104 | 420 | $210,836 | $945 | $73,612 |
| 9 | Sauk | 108 | 853 | $325,000 | $1,350 | $77,228 |
| 10 | Jefferson | 118 | 545 | $335,250 | $1,400 | $84,325 |
| 11 | Manitowoc | 126 | 480 | $227,000 | $1,100 | $71,188 |
| 12 | Eau Claire | 142 | 1,505 | n/a | n/a | $77,827 |
| 13 | Portage | 147 | 662 | $317,000 | $1,235 | $74,650 |
| 14 | Outagamie | 148 | 966 | n/a | n/a | $82,847 |
| 15 | Walworth | 150 | 729 | $395,000 | $1,525 | $83,061 |
| 16 | Chippewa | 150 | 447 | $290,000 | $1,295 | $72,337 |
| 17 | Dane | 152 | 1,321 | $460,000 | $1,662 | $91,479 |
| 18 | Marathon | 156 | 586 | $260,000 | $1,300 | $79,414 |
| 19 | Winnebago | 159 | 843 | n/a | n/a | $72,564 |
| 20 | Wood | 174 | 819 | $225,000 | $995 | $68,299 |
| 21 | Rock | 193 | 1,274 | $288,445 | $1,425 | $73,982 |
| 22 | Brown | 196 | 822 | $351,500 | $1,350 | $80,803 |
| 23 | La Crosse | 212 | 1,960 | $310,300 | $1,300 | $76,443 |
| 24 | Racine | 217 | 884 | $302,083 | $1,300 | $79,354 |
| 25 | Fond du Lac | 246 | 926 | n/a | n/a | $77,061 |
| 26 | Kenosha | 272 | 839 | $310,000 | $1,595 | $83,504 |
| 27 | Milwaukee | 762 | 2,244 | n/a | n/a | $66,339 |
A closer look at the 12 safest counties
1. Waukesha County
Police in Waukesha reported 66 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median home closed at $480,000, roughly 153 percent of the middle figure for these counties. That combination, among the safest counties here and among the most expensive, is what most buyers are picturing when they pay a premium for a quiet address. Measured against local pay it is one of the harder counties on this list to buy into, at 4.6 times median household income. Its property rate, 597 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. For prices at street level, see Waukesha, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
2. Waupaca County
At 76 violent offenses per 100,000, Waupaca sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Buyers there paid a median of $240,500, some 77 percent of the level across the counties measured. Whatever premium safety commands elsewhere on this list, it is not being collected here. Prices sit close to local earning power, at 3.1 times the median household income. Asking rents of $1,175 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return.
3. Ozaukee County
Police in Ozaukee reported 80 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median home closed at $476,000, roughly 152 percent of the middle figure for these counties. Low crime and high prices arrive together here, which is the arrangement buyers assume is universal and is not. Measured against local pay it is one of the harder counties on this list to buy into, at 4.5 times median household income. Property crime is low too, at 447 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.4 times the median comparable US county.
4. St. Croix County
St. Croix's violent crime rate is 83 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Wisconsin counties Resideline can measure. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Buyers there paid a median of $415,507, some 132 percent of the level across the counties measured. Low crime and high prices arrive together here, which is the arrangement buyers assume is universal and is not. Median household income is $99,439, roughly 125 percent of the level across this list. Property offenses run at 555 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Resideline publishes a separate page for Hudson, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
5. Columbia County
Police in Columbia reported 89 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Property crime is low too, at 457 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.4 times the median comparable US county.
6. Washington County
At 93 violent offenses per 100,000, Washington sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Its property rate, 600 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties.
7. Calumet County
Calumet's violent crime rate is 97 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Wisconsin counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $319,900, sits near the center of the counties measured. Households there earn a median of $94,597, about 119 percent of the median for these counties. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 267 per 100,000, or 0.2 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $1,219 a month. For prices at street level, see Appleton, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
8. Grant County
Police in Grant reported 104 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Buyers there paid a median of $210,836, some 67 percent of the level across the counties measured. The ratio of price to local household income is 2.9, among the gentlest on this list. Its property rate is among the lowest here, 420 per 100,000, or 0.4 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $945 a month.
9. Sauk County
Sauk's violent crime rate is 108 per 100,000 residents, the middle range among the Wisconsin counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes there closed at a median of $325,000, close to the middle of this list. Its property rate, 853 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. Asking rents run about $1,350 a month.
10. Jefferson County
Jefferson records 118 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Wisconsin counties measured here. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $335,250, sits near the center of the counties measured. Its property rate, 545 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. The median rental listing asks $1,400 a month.
11. Manitowoc County
Police in Manitowoc reported 126 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Buyers there paid a median of $227,000, some 72 percent of the level across the counties measured. Prices sit close to local earning power, at 3.2 times the median household income. Asking rents of $1,100 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return. Property crime is low, at 480 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.4 times the median comparable US county. Resideline publishes a separate page for Manitowoc, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
12. Eau Claire County
At 142 violent offenses per 100,000, Eau Claire sits in the middle range of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Its property rate of 1,505 per 100,000 is in the top quarter here, and 1.3 times the median comparable US county.
Does safety set the price in Wisconsin?
Somewhat, and less than you would expect. The safest third of these counties runs 6 percent above the highest-crime third on price. The same safe places also earn 18 percent more, so income explains part of the raw gap. This state-level comparison does not isolate density, housing mix or other factors that may explain the remainder.
That matches what we found nationally: across 688 counties, once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a crime rate stops predicting home prices. The full analysis is in our study of crime and home prices.
That is a county-level result. Within a county, research at the scale of a block or a neighborhood finds that violent crime does lower the value of the homes nearest to it, so use these figures to compare counties, not streets.
Where safety and affordability overlap in Wisconsin
Three of the 9 safest counties on this list also cost no more than the list's median once prices are set against local incomes: Waupaca (76 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.1 times median household income); Calumet (97 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.4 times median household income); Grant (104 violent per 100,000, a home at 2.9 times median household income). Against what households there earn, those are the counties where a low crime rate is not being charged for.
How to read this list
A rate like this averages everything inside the area, from its downtown to its farmland, and the spread within one of them is often wider than the spread between them. Use it to shortlist, then look at the specific address and the block it sits on.
Prices and rents are as of September 9, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months; a price is shown where at least 100 closings were tracked and a rent where at least 50 listings were. Rent figures are the median asking rent on listings, not lease figures. Crime is the 2025 FBI Crime Data Explorer release, measured for the whole county over the months each agency reported, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2024 estimate of the county's median household income; population is the Census 2024 estimate. Where this page compares a rate with the median comparable US county, that figure (245 violent and 1188 property offenses per 100,000) is the median across the 874 US counties with at least 50,000 residents whose agencies reported on 90 percent or more of them for the year.
Sources and related pages
- •Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, agency-level offense counts for 2025, aggregated by county over the months each agency reported.
- •Income: Census SAIPE 2024, county median household income.
- •Population: Census county population estimates, vintage 2024.
- •Prices and rents: Resideline's tracked closings and rental listings, 12 months to September 2026.
- •Related: Safest counties by state; Does crime actually lower home prices?; Wisconsin housing market; Safest counties in Illinois; Safest counties in Iowa; Safest counties in Michigan; Safest counties in Minnesota.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the safest county in Wisconsin?
Of the 27 Wisconsin counties measured here, Waukesha County records the lowest violent crime rate at 66 offenses per 100,000 residents, against 245 for the median comparable US county. Homes there closed at a median of $480,000 over the last 12 months.
Is this every county in Wisconsin?
No. It covers 27 of the state's 72 counties, the ones where police agencies report at least 90 percent of the population to the FBI, the area has at least 50,000 residents, and the resulting rate falls inside the sanity bounds we apply. Whether Resideline has enough sales there decides only whether a price is shown. No place above 150,000 residents was excluded.
Does a lower crime rate mean higher home prices?
Less than most people assume. Comparing the safest third of these counties with the highest-crime third, the median closed price is 6 percent higher and household income 18 percent higher. Across 688 US counties we found that once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a county's crime rate stops predicting its home prices. At the scale of a block, the research says violent crime does lower nearby values.
Is this crime rate for my neighborhood?
No. The FBI publishes these figures for whole counties, so every part of a county carries the same number here, from its densest district to its farmland. It is useful for narrowing a search and not a substitute for looking at a specific address.
Are these rents asking rents or lease rents?
They are the median asking rent on rental listings in the county over the last 12 months. That is what landlords advertised, a guide to the market rather than a lease figure.
About the author
Jeffrey Batista
Jeffrey Batista is the founder of Resideline, a real estate technology company building institutional grade valuation and investment analysis tools for real estate investors.
A software engineer with more than 10 years of experience, Jeffrey has worked across full stack development, infrastructure, data engineering, machine learning, and large scale systems. He left his engineering career to build Resideline full time.
Jeffrey is also a real estate investor with nearly a decade of hands on experience buying, renovating, managing, and analyzing residential properties. His experience on both sides of the industry, as an engineer and an investor, led him to build Resideline after seeing how fragmented and outdated many of the tools available to individual investors were.
Today, he leads the development of Resideline's proprietary data infrastructure, automated valuation models, rental analytics, and investment underwriting technology.