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The Best Places to Live in Wisconsin When You're Job Hunting

By Camilla Andersson, Monster Contributor

Wisconsin is known for its vast farmland, 15,000+ lakes, outdoor activities, and cultural events, including Summerfest—one of the largest musical festivals in the world. If you’re searching for a new place to live and work in Wisconsin, you’ll have plenty of choices. The best places to live in Wisconsin range from tranquil suburbs to large metropolitan areas.

Wisconsin’s farms have also cultivated a flavorful food culture. Known as America’s Dairyland, Wisconsin not only produces over 25 percent of the country’s cheese, but its cheese has won numerous awards. Wisconsin also has a long history as a global producer of beer. Living in Wisconsin gives you many opportunities to reap the fruit of this labor at cheese tours, cheese farm visits, cheese festivals, beer gardens, and microbreweries, or you can even combine the two at the annual Beer and Cheese Fest in Madison.

Here are some other highlights of living in Wisconsin:

  • Wisconsin has a diverse economy with jobs in many different sectors.
  • The state has relatively low housing costs.
  • Wisconsin has some of the best waterparks in the country, including the country’s largest waterpark, Noah’s Ark.
  • The state is home to historic architecture, including several buildings designed by the Wisconsin architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
  • Wisconsin has a solid sports culture with the Green Bay Packers leading the pack.
  • There’s plenty of scenic nature in Wisconsin, such as the Apostle Islands, the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, the Cave of the Mounds, and the Devil’s Lake State Park.
  • You can explore unique museums such as the Snowmobile Hall of Fame, Circus World, Mustard Museum, and the Harley-Davidson Museum in Wisconsin.

The Best Companies to Work for in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is home to the headquarters and satellite offices of many large companies, but the best companies to work for in Wisconsin are those that also have high job satisfaction. These are some of the largest Wisconsin-based companies that have been rated highly by its employees:

  • Kwik Trip
  • Schneider National
  • Northwestern Mutual
  • Snap-on
  • Rockwell Automation
  • American Family Insurance

The Best Places to Live in Wisconsin

You can find good job markets, a diverse range of jobs, and plenty of activities to enjoy in your free time whether you choose to live in a city or town in Wisconsin. If you thrive in a large city, you may find a home in Milwaukee, Madison, or Green Bay. Are you looking for a smaller place to settle down? Consider La Crosse or Greenfield. For something in between, you may find that the cities of Eau Claire or Appleton, with around 70,000 residents each, are just right for you.

Read on to learn more about the best places to live in WI.

Milwaukee

Home to about 600,000 residents, Milwaukee is nicknamed the “City of Festivals” for its many events, including the music festival Summerfest. Milwaukee also has breweries, the Milwaukee Brewers, a public market, and art museums. Another popular area to enjoy in the city is the Riverwalk, packed with historical buildings, restaurants, and nightlife, but you can also experience the Milwaukee River by taking a boat tour or renting a kayak.

Milwaukee has a healthy economy with plenty of jobs in a diverse range of industries, including creative jobs, manufacturing, and food service.

Discover Milwaukee jobs on Monster.

Madison

Madison is the capital of Wisconsin and the state’s second-largest city. It’s also one of the fastest growing. Despite its size, you can find plenty of serene attractions here, including four lakes, many parks, biking trails, and botanical gardens.

Madison is one of the best cities to live in Wisconsin for foodies. Explore local food and drinks at one of the city’s farm-to-table restaurants, vineyards, distilleries, farmer’s markets, or the world’s largest Bratwurst festival. For an essential Wisconsin experience, take a class in how to create a cheeseboard.

As a hub for biotech and tech companies, Madison is home to offices of several large companies like Google, and there are also many jobs in healthcare.

Discover Madison jobs on Monster.

Eau Claire

Eau Claire is a youthful town centered around the University of Wisconsin’s local campus. The city caters to this community with a vibrant nightlife, performing arts, annual festivals and competitions, and open-air concerts. If you’re looking for a slower pace of life, the city also has many bike trails and a pleasant riverside location.

The largest employer is Mayo Clinic Health Systems, which employs over 14,000 people. You can also find many jobs in retail and education.

Discover Eau Claire jobs on Monster.

La Crosse

The college town of La Crosse offers plenty of outdoor escapes with biking and hiking trails, public parks, and steamboat tours. You can also enjoy one of the city’s waterfront restaurants facing the Mississippi River or view the city from the Grandad Bluff. This small city of about 50,000 people comes alive during its many festivals and concerts, such as the Midwest Banjo Fest.

La Crosse offers a reasonably low cost of living and unemployment rate, as well as many jobs in healthcare, administration, production, and farming.

Discover La Crosse jobs on Monster.

Green Bay

Green Bay is one of the best places to live in Wisconsin if you love football. It’s the hometown of the NFL Green Bay Packers, but it also has many other attractions and affordable home prices to entice those who are not sports fans. The bay that the city is named after gives you plenty of beaches and fishing opportunities, and there are several waterfalls nearby.

Green Bay is a traditional paper manufacturing town with many production jobs. Other large sectors are healthcare and retail.

Discover Green Bay jobs on Monster.

The Best Places to Live in Wisconsin for Families

Appleton

Escape the large metropolitan areas by moving to the city of Appleton, which used to be home of famous escape artist Harry Houdini. The city has capitalized on this history with several attractions named after Houdini. The most famous is the Houdini Historical Center, located in a former Masonic temple built in the style of a medieval castle.

Appleton is one of the best places to live in Wisconsin for families due to low crime rates and many recreational activities. There’s plenty to do both for young and old kids, with bowling alleys, arcades, family-oriented museums, and outdoor activities such as skiing and hiking.

With its location next to the Fox River, Appleton has a long history in papermaking, as well as other jobs in production. There are also many jobs in education and healthcare.

Discover Appleton jobs on Monster.

Greenfield

The suburb of Greenfield is another great place to raise a family. With about 37,000 residents, Greenfield boasts low rates of violent crimes, stellar schools, and 13 parks.

Greenfield offers plenty of jobs in manufacturing, retail, and healthcare. You will also be nearby the city of Milwaukee if you want to explore additional job opportunities.

Discover Greenfield jobs on Monster.

Monster Can Help You Lead the Job Hunt Pack

Score a touchdown and get ahead of the job competition in one of the best places to live in Wisconsin by creating a profile on Monster. Once you have a Monster profile, you can sign up to get career advice sent to your inbox along with notifications for new job listings. You can also add your resume to our database, where about 14,000 companies are searching for job candidates.