What Are The Pros And Cons Of Living In Green Bay, Wisconsin?

Wisconsin is known for several things, including cheese, beer, and the Green Bay Packers. If you want to be close to all the sporty action, then you might have already considered moving to Green Bay. It’s a sportsman’s dream, true. But, there’s more to this snowy city than just having a good seat to the action. It’s good to know the pros and cons of living in Wisconsin’s own Green Bay.

Most locals in Green Bay adore the excellent cost of living, good economy, fun attractions, and low home prices. However, a somewhat high crime rate, icy winters, and a stagnant education system might make some people rethink their love of Green Bay. This city is ideal for young professionals who want to save money.

Living in Wisconsin is not for everyone. If you want to make a move to the Green Bay area, it’s best to know what you will be getting if you decide to change homes. This guide is here to help you weigh things out.

Are you looking for a place where it’s easy to make ends meet? Well, you’re not alone. That’s one reason why people are moving to Green Bay in droves. The cost of living index places Green Bay at 82.3, which means that a typical Green Bayer will need $82,300 a year to get a lifestyle that would require $100,000 in a typical city.

This makes Green Bay one of the most affordable large cities in America. The biggest discounts people enjoy here include groceries, transportation, and of course, housing. (But housing, we’re getting into later.)

Need a place to live that involves tons of opportunities? If you’ve been struggling to find a job, look no further than this region. The unemployment rate is a very low 3.7 percent, making it a great place for people who want to find a way to live. This is a true-blue working-class place to live.

Manufacturing, healthcare, customer service, and retail are the most common jobs. With that said, the wages that they offer are not the best. The median household income is $49,251. So, it’s around $15,000 to $20,000 below the national median. This is something that you may want to take with a grain of salt.

Homeownership is something that most people take for granted, but in Green Bay, that’s not the case. Housing is at around 60 percent of the national median price. This makes Green Bay one of the only places where home ownership might still be a rite of passage. A typical home in the Green Bay area will cost $146,000 or so.

If being a homeowner is what you’re into, Green Bay is a great place to be. Few places, if any, are going to have home prices that are as reasonable as Green Bay—even if you are

It’s pretty clear from my intro that living in Green Bay means that you will have a lot of sporting options around you. Along with the local football team, most people in Green Bay enjoy flexing their own sports prowess at a local park. If you’re more of a hiker or a fan of taking a stroll, then you might like the botanical gardens within city limits too.

Of course, there are also plenty of indoor activities that you can choose from as well. These include the local cinemas, the Green Bay Children’s Museum, as well as the National Railroad Museum. With that said, most other parts of the city will have their own intellectually stimulating entertainment options that you can choose from. They also have a pretty decent food scene.

What’s interesting about Green Bay is that there is an above-average number of kid-friendly venues. So, if you want to start a family and want to keep kids entertained, then this is the place to move to. There are always ways to keep your little ones entertained here.

While the Midwest is generally known for being a pretty low-crime area, Green Bay definitely doesn’t fit the bill. Green Bay has a crime problem. The violent crime rate is 5 per 1000 residents, and the property crime rate is 16.67 per 1000 residents. This puts it as a city with a below-average hold on its crime.

The current crime rate puts Green Bay as safer than 23 percent of all American cities. Part of the issue is due to the fact that Green Bay is a low-income area and crime offers a way to make ends meet. Other times, it is a matter of gang activity. Sadly, many parts of this city are seeing a rise in both violent and property crime—something that’s actually quite rare to see since crime is decreasing nationally.

Alright, so this is more of a “grab bag.” Some districts in Green Bay have great schools, but most are suffering pretty badly. Low test scores, terrible graduation rates, and concerns about school safety are the norm here. This is primarily true in the public school systems, where underfunding causes many cutbacks in school.

This is a place where your child may struggle to find a reason to try to go to college. Many parts of Green Bay do not emphasize schooling, which in turn, means that kids don’t get the positive peer pressure they would often find. So while it’s not one of the most dangerous parts of Wisconsin, it can be a hazard for your intellectual curiosity.

It is similar to the cost of living in Madison, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin and cold weather go hand in hand like PB&J. In fact, the two are basically synonymous. Wisconsin’s bitter cold weather is notorious on a nationwide level, and unfortunately, Green Bay is no exception to the rule. If anything, the cold breeze from the bay can actually make things colder during the winter. Major Arctic blasts are a primary reason why you won’t want to live here.

During the winters, the typical daily lows can be around 9 degrees Fahrenheit. This is an area that has seen temperatures dip as low as -40 degrees in recent years. Needless to say, people who are used to warm weather will probably find this place deplorable during the winter. If you have a health condition that makes you very sensitive to cold, then you need to avoid Green Bay, period.

The worst issue, in my opinion, is the snowfall. Being up north means that you are bound to get more snow than a place like Texas. The average annual snowfall here is 47.5 inches, which puts it well above the national average. If you find yourself in the middle of a blizzard, there’s a good chance that you may also be snowed in. Yikes.

Related Questions

Is Green Bay’s Lambeau Field heated?

If you’ve been wondering why the stadium at Green Bay feels unusually warm during the winter months, it’s actually rather tech-based. Lambeau Field was one of the very first stadium fields to have a hydronic heating system installed in it. This is why the sports teams that play there don’t die of hypothermia during the colder months of the year. Or so we’d imagine.Regardless, the field offers a lot of reasons for a good tour. You don’t have to be a sports fan to appreciate the fascinating tale of how the stadium came to be.

What are most of Green Bay, WI’s jobs in?

If you want to work in the Green Bay area, it’s good to have a few retail skills. The city has tons of retail jobs as well as a bunch of blue-collar jobs in construction. However, this doesn’t mean that Green Bay is entirely working class. Other top employers include working in the financial sector, the healthcare sector, as well as educational employment.The city makes having a career change pretty easy, since there are always areas that are hiring. However, if you were hoping for a startup, this is not going to be a good place to move to. Startups are few and far between here.

Are Green Bay locals nice?

While there are a lot of parts of the Midwest that are known for being a bit snooty, Green Bay is not one of these places. The area is famous for being open and welcoming to others, not to mention having a genuine interest in connections. If you want to make the most of your time in Green Bay, we strongly suggest asking locals for recipes. The down-home cooking in this area is legendary for a reason.