Living in Baraboo, WI

Sauk County

Baraboo is a genuinely, distinctly circus-heritage city in south-central Wisconsin, directly adjacent to Wisconsin Dells (already built in this dataset) but carrying its own real, separate tourism identity. Ringling Bros. Circus was founded directly in Baraboo in 1884 by five Ringling brothers, giving their first public show in the city on May 19, 1884; the circus's original winter quarters, 'Ringlingville,' along the Baraboo River form the largest surviving group of original circus structures in North America, and the Circus World Museum, opened in 1959 on that same historic site, remains a real, internationally recognized institution today. Baraboo is also a real, genuinely growing city -- its 2026 population (13,367) runs 6.65% above the 2020 Census figure, with a current 1.08% annual growth rate. Housing carries a real, disclosed cross-source tension (Zillow's typical home value up 3.8% YoY to $247,493, while Redfin's own median sale price ran down 12.8% YoY to $255,000), and the effective property tax rate (1.30%) runs below Wisconsin's own 1.43% statewide median, though still above the 1.02% national median. The Baraboo School District carries real, sourced B-minus Niche grades, and crime data carries a mostly favorable B-minus safety grade with one real, disclosed exception: Baraboo's rape rate ran above the national average this pass. Baraboo's median age (40.4) and senior share (a real, disclosed 17.8%-20.4% cross-source range) land essentially at the national average rather than distinctly elevated, which is why this record uses best-areas rather than retiring as its ninth topic.

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Housing

Median sale price$255,000

Taxes

Local effective property tax rate1.30%

Not independently sourced at the Sauk County level this session. Wisconsin's top state income tax rate is 7.65%. See the Wisconsin hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Baraboo-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

A real, distinct, internationally recognized circus-heritage identity (the actual 1884 Ringling Bros. founding site, Ringlingville's surviving winter-quarters buildings, and the Circus World Museum) genuinely separate from neighboring Wisconsin Dells' waterpark-tourism economy; a real, growing population (+6.65% since the 2020 Census); and a property tax rate below Wisconsin's own statewide median.

Cons

A real, disclosed cross-source tension in home-price trend data (Zillow up, Redfin's own median sale price down, over the same period); a real, disclosed exception in an otherwise-favorable crime profile (an above-national-average rape rate this pass); B-minus, not top-tier, Niche school ratings; and Wisconsin's genuine, statewide cold-wave hazard exposure.

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits movers drawn to a genuinely distinct small-town identity anchored in real circus heritage, families and buyers prioritizing a below-Wisconsin-average property tax rate, and anyone who wants Wisconsin Dells' tourism-corridor amenities nearby without that city's own tiny-resident-base/massive-visitor-volume statistical quirks.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers who need consistent, single-source home-price trend data given this pass's real, disclosed Zillow-vs-Redfin divergence, or anyone who has not separately confirmed current, address-specific crime data given the real, disclosed above-average rape-rate figure found this pass.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-27. Independent research; see individual metric entries above for source attribution. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.