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Twin Lakes, Wisconsin

Twin Lakes is a small town of about 6,300 people in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.1 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Milwaukee, is about 40 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
6,338
up 0.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$270,700
Kenosha County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$86,222
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Kenosha area
101.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
10 miles
Lake Geneva, WI
To Milwaukee
40 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 1.1% above the U.S. average in the Kenosha metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Twin Lakes itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Wilmot High, about 3 miles away.
  • A hospital close byMercy Walworth Hospital & Medical Center in Lake Geneva, about 10 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMilwaukee is about 40 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Twin Lakes meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$270,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Kenosha County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$870 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$86,222U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
78%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$4,459 a yearWisconsin: $3,792
Homes built before 1940
13%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
7%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
18%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
101.1U.S. average = 100 (the Kenosha metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 24% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Kenosha metro area, not Twin Lakes alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
6,3382020: 6,332
Median age
50.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
22%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
16%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
23%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Manufacturing (29%); schools, health care and social services (16%); construction (9%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
29 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
11%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
6%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Mercy Walworth Hospital & Medical Center, Lake Geneva, WI, about 10 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Aurora Memorial Hospital Burlington, Burlington, WI, about 11 miles away. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in Twin Lakes, run by Twin Lakes #4 School District and Randall J1 School District. The nearest public high school is Wilmot High, about 3 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Wisconsin's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
82%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
93%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
13°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
9 a year
Nights at or below freezing
149 a year
Rain and melted snow
35.3 inches a year
Snow
38 inches a year
Elevation
874 feet

Weather stations: Pell Lake (4 miles away) and Burlington (9 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Mercy Walworth Hospital & Medical Center, Kenosha, Milwaukee.

Kenosha County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument57 miles

Read about Twin Lakes's history on Wikipedia.

Know Twin Lakes?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Powers Lake, WI (unincorporated)1,278 people, 3 miles
  • Lily Lake, WI (unincorporated)456 people, 4 miles
  • New Munster, WI (unincorporated)234 people, 4 miles
  • Channel Lake, IL (unincorporated)2,052 people, 6 miles
  • Lake Ivanhoe, WI (unincorporated)558 people, 7 miles
  • Lake Catherine, IL (unincorporated)968 people, 7 miles
  • Bohners Lake, WI (unincorporated)2,460 people, 8 miles
  • Ringwood, IL830 people, 9 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.