Why Menomonee Falls?
There is a lot to think about when considering where to live or where to locate a business. Community culture, services, location, and value are all important factors. Menomonee Falls stands out in the greater Milwaukee region as a community that provides a strong combination of desirable qualities and a wide variety of business opportunities and living environments across all price points.
Neighborhoods
The variety of neighborhood types in our community can be attributed to Menomonee Falls' long history which dates to the 1840s when the community founded as a mill town along the Menomonee River. The Village's downtown business district and historic residential streets developed near the Mill Pond in the late 1800s and the first modern residential subdivisions were developed nearby starting in the 1930s.
Thousands of homes were built in Menomonee Falls in the 1950s and early 1960s (the Village annexed the Town of Menomonee in 1958) and business growth boomed along arterial streets and within industrial parks in the decades that followed. The Village's second housing boom, in the1990s and 2000s, coincided with growth in the business community including major projects from Kohl's Corporation and Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin. A combination of new builds and redevelopment projects continues to spur population growth in the Village today.
Culture & Recreation
The Falls offers the perfect balance of urban energy and small-town feel with amenities and events for residents of all ages. The Village's downtown has to dozens of places to eat, drink, shop and explore within a setting that includes beautiful architecture, the Mill Pond, waterfalls and the historic and naturally beautiful Lime Kiln Park. Parks and trails throughout the community provide beautiful spaces for passive and active recreation and gathering places for family and community events. Cultural highlights include:
- A thriving downtown and convenient shopping areas throughout the Village
- A full calendar of festivals, farmers markets, parades, sporting events and concerts
- A spectacular space to gather and play at the recently redesigned Village Park
- Old Falls Village historical park and living history museum
- 2,500+ acres of public open space including 16 parks and 30 miles of recreational trails
Services
The Village is committed to responsive and effective government services including public safety, library, public works, parks and engineering services. Our community is also served by two award winning public school districts and Froedtert Community Memorial Hospital. Local services highlights include:
- Effective protective services – the Village routinely ranks as one of the safest communities in the state
- 237 miles of well-maintained local roadways
- A modern library with 344,000 volumes, a children's library, historical collection and a variety online services
- A recreation department with dozens of programs serving over 11,000 unique customers a year
- School districts which perform well above state averages on proficiency tests and ACT exams
Location
Residents and businesses benefit from convenient access to everything the Milwaukee region has to offer with tens of thousands of jobs (over 33,000 are located within Menomonee Falls alone) nearby, major cultural and entertainment venues in Milwaukee less than a half hour away, and the beauty of Lake Country, the Kettle Moraine and Lake Michigan even closer. The Village is:
- Adjacent to Brookfield, Germantown, Milwaukee, Lisbon and Sussex
- 15 minutes from shopping at the Mayfair Collection and Mayfair Mall
- 20 minutes from Lake Michigan beaches and Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers baseball)
- 25 minutes from downtown Milwaukee
- 30 minutes from General Mitchell International Airport
Value
The Milwaukee region is affordable when compared to adjacent major cities in the Upper Midwest and Menomonee Falls is an affordable place to live within the region. A $50,000 salary here goes as far as a $52,533 salary in Madison or a $61,803 salary in Chicago (Nerdwallet.com Cost of Living Calculator). Costs for housing, property taxes, and transportation in the Village are relatively low compared to many neighboring communities.
*Note: Property tax estimates apply 2022 municipal tax rates to 2019 median home values for communities below.