Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 80/100
B+
Median home value$443,900
Milwaukee $306,400
Median rent$1,886/mo
Milwaukee $1,139/mo
Cost-burdened households20%
Milwaukee 31%
Brookfield
Waukesha County41,273 residentsElmbrook School District
72
B−
Suburbgrade score
4th of 30 Milwaukee suburbs. Strong on schools and housing & affordability, held back by cost of living.
72
Milwaukee median 65
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Brookfield yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 72 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Brookfield is like to live in, by category
Bars show Brookfield against Milwaukee. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 85/100
A−
Within-state proficiency95th pct
Milwaukee median 81st pct
Student–teacher ratio16.0
Milwaukee median 14.6
Graduation rate97%
Milwaukee median 97%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 52/100
D+
Housing cost index133
Milwaukee 100
Eff. tax rate1.27%
Milwaukee 1.38%
Local sales tax5.72%
Milwaukee median 5.72%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 78/100
B+
Mean commute20.7 min
Milwaukee 22.7 min
Under 30 minutes79%
Milwaukee 71%
Transit stops / sq mi0.1
Milwaukee median 0.1 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 53/100
C−
Restaurants & cafés18
Milwaukee median 34 · within 2 miles
Groceries2
Milwaukee median 4 · within 2 miles
Parks34
Milwaukee median 47 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 77/100
B
Median household income$129,548
Milwaukee $78,218
Unemployment2.5%
Milwaukee 3.8%
Professional occupations63%
Milwaukee 44%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Brookfield yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Brookfield on cost of living
Brookfield's weakest grade is D+. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbCost of livingOverall
Hartford22 mi from BrookfieldB 60 C West Allis6 mi from BrookfieldB 58 C South Milwaukee17 mi from BrookfieldB− 56 C− West Bend25 mi from BrookfieldB− 61 C New Berlin6 mi from BrookfieldB− 70 B− Greenfield9 mi from BrookfieldB− 64 C+ Cost-of-living index composed in-house from housing cost, utilities, effective property tax and local sales tax · Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Effective property tax: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Brookfield
Is Brookfield, WI a good place to live?
Brookfield scores 72 out of 100, 4th of 30 Milwaukee suburbs. It is strongest on schools and weakest on cost of living. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Brookfield expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades D+. The median home is $443,900, 45% above the Milwaukee median, and the effective property tax rate is 1.27%. $1,886/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Brookfield?
Schools grade A−. The districts serving Brookfield sit at the 95th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 97% graduation rate and a 16.0 student–teacher ratio. Brookfield is served by Elmbrook School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Brookfield?
The mean commute is 20.7 min, with 79% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 21% working from home. Transit density is 0.1 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Brookfield?
Within two miles there are 2 groceries, 18 restaurants and cafés and 34 parks, which grades C− on amenities.
Are the homes in Brookfield old or new?
The median home in Brookfield was built in 1975 — newer than the Milwaukee median of 1967. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 84% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.