City · Jefferson County, Wisconsin

Waterloo, Wisconsin

Waterloo is a city in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, part of the Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI metro area. It has 3,600 residents. Waterloo, Wisconsin has a quality-of-life score of 77 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,549 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wisconsin it ranks #258 of 396 cities and towns. It ranks best on income inequality (Gini index) (low), unemployment rate (low) and rent-burdened households (low). It ranks worst on adult obesity (high), new homes permitted (low) and job growth (low).

77High

Quality-of-life score: #3,549 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wisconsin: #258 of 396 in WI
Population: 3,600 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 948.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 5583925

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety80#3,112/15,637
Economy61#6,159/15,631
Housing78#3,289/14,977
Health56#6,826/15,609
Healthcare61#6,089/15,650
Environment66#5,268/15,453
Education73#4,167/15,649
Infrastructure33#10,539/15,650
Community95#820/15,651
Leisure & amenities50#7,789/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Waterloo, Wisconsin ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Jefferson County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.322
96/100Wisconsin 0.444United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Unemployment rate · low0.6%
95/100Wisconsin 3.2%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Rent-burdened households · low36.6%
93/100Wisconsin 43.7%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Rent as share of income · low19.3%
92/100Wisconsin 27.2%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Wisconsin 4.6United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationJefferson County value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Wisconsin 4.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationJefferson County value

Weaknesses

Adult obesity · high42.0%
13/100Wisconsin 39.2%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
New homes permitted · low0.0 /1k
13/100Wisconsin 4.4 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Job growth · low-1.9%
14/100Wisconsin 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataJefferson County value
Effective property tax rate · high1.63%
17/100Wisconsin 1.32%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Primary care physicians · low36 /100k
17/100Wisconsin 82 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJefferson County value
Mental health providers · low121 /100k
18/100Wisconsin 282 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJefferson County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
3,337 (2015-2019) → 3,600 (2020-2024)
+7.9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
60.2% (2015-2019) → 36.6% (2020-2024)
−24 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
0.9 /1k (2022) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%4 yearsUS 5.0 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateWorsening
10.2% (2015-2019) → 28.2% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
35.2% (2015-2019) → 19.3% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
32.2% (2015-2019) → 23.9% (2020-2024)
−8.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Waterloo, Wisconsin improved on 1 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Inequality−0.0780.400 → 0.322

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Waterloo, Wisconsin between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.3 min2015-2019	32.2 min2020-2024	+6.9 min	Within the margin of error	5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	32.2%2015-2019	23.9%2020-2024	−8.2 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Broadband subscriptions	82.6%2015-2019	87.7%2020-2024	+5.2 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Effective property tax rate	2.15%2015-2019	1.63%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	92%
High school diploma or higher	88.5%2015-2019	91.4%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.5×	Within the margin of error	49%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4002015-2019	0.3222020-2024	−0.078	Improved	92%
Median household income	$75,4382015-2019	$87,7762020-2024	+16%	Within the margin of error	26%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	35.2%2015-2019	19.3%2020-2024	−16 points	Within the margin of error	97%
Rent-burdened households	60.2%2015-2019	36.6%2020-2024	−24 points	Within the margin of error	95%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Waterloo, Wisconsin five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Waterloo, Wisconsin in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Waterloo, Wisconsin itself moved +9.7 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

3,600 residents (±14)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,589 households (±175)

Waterloo, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Under $25k13%†204
$25k–50k9.2%†146
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,589 households (±175)

Waterloo, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Own69%1,095
Rent31%†494

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

2,080 workers (±228)

Waterloo, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Drive alone71%1,480
Carpool10%†214
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Jefferson County, the county holding most of Waterloo's residents.

Jefferson County has 2,058 employer establishments, 239 for every 10,000 residents (0.96× the US rate of 248; 0.98× Wisconsin's), with 31,584 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,186. The Census Bureau also counts 5,468 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,058; 5,468 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 239; US 248 · Wisconsin 244
Paid employees: 31,584
Average annual pay: $54,186; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Jefferson County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	217	25.2	1.63×More than typical	1,227	$70,230	430
Restaurants and other eating places	141	16.4	0.89×About typical	2,310	$16,623	18
Ambulatory health care services	103	12	0.57×Fewer than typical	925	$71,577	172
Truck transportation	74	8.6	1.70×More than typical	449	$61,953	105
Lessors of real estate	67	7.8	0.63×Fewer than typical	231	$31,281	611
Building finishing contractors	66	7.7	2.02×More than typical	371	$63,706	161
Full-service restaurants	65	7.6	0.98×About typical	778	$17,737	6
Religious organizations	65	7.6	1.36×More than typical	592	$19,704	—
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	64	7.4	2.36×More than typical	360	$72,456	76
Services to buildings and dwellings	64	7.4	1.10×About typical	422	$36,507	330
Construction of buildings	59	6.9	0.91×About typical	239	$65,615	195
Building equipment contractors	56	6.5	1.08×About typical	338	$70,728	65

Rank places for an industry Open Jefferson County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 86,086 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Waterloo, Wisconsin: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

9.8KFY2018
0FY2019

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Waterloo, Wisconsin, so they do not add up across cities.

Waterloo, Wisconsin's figures are part of those of Jefferson County, WI ($1.9M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Waterloo is mostly in Jefferson County.

See federal money in Jefferson County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Waterloo, Wisconsin is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Scott FitzgeraldR-WI-5 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.2%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Jefferson County92100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI89

Other cities and towns in Jefferson County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/5583925

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends