Fredonia, WI

Fredonia is two governments with one name, and this guide covers both. The Village of Fredonia is a small incorporated village on the Milwaukee River and Highway 57. The Town of Fredonia is the rural town that surrounds the village and includes the unincorporated communities of Waubeka and Little Kohler. Each has its own board, its own tax rate and its own rules, though Wikipedia notes their government offices share a building.

The Census 2024 gazetteer puts the village at 2.24 square miles of land and the town at 34.0 square miles. The 2020 census counted 2,279 people in the village and 2,078 in the town, according to Wikipedia's village and town,_Wisconsin) entries, and the Department of Revenue estimates 2,250 and 2,072 for 2025. Waubeka, the largest community in the town, counted 640 people in 2020.

The town borders the Town of Sherman in Sheboygan County to the north, the Town of Belgium to the east, the Town of Saukville to the south and the Town of Farmington in Washington County to the west. That western border matters more than it looks.

The Fredonia 53021 mailing address reaches past the town line. On October 5, 2026, I ran the listings on a public Fredonia search page through the Census geocoder. The highest-priced house on it, $874,900 (pending) on River Drive with a Fredonia 53021 address, came back in the Town of Farmington, in Washington County and the Kewaskum School District. Coming from Lake County, Illinois, buyers assume the town in the address is the town on the tax bill. Here I'd check the county as well as the municipality.

The Town of Fredonia came first. Wikipedia records that it was part of the Town of Port Washington until 1847, when it was created and named after Fredonia, New York, and that a post office called Fredonia has operated since 1850.

For its first decades, the town's center was Waubeka, on the Milwaukee River, where the river powered early industry. That changed in 1873, when the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway built Fredonia Station east of Waubeka. Businesses, granaries and houses grew up around the station, and the Village of Fredonia incorporated out of the town in 1922 with 272 people.

The village's growth since then has come in waves visible in the housing data: a 1970s building boom, steady building through the 1990s and 2000s, and very little after 2010. A village industrial park, opened in the 2020s near Highway 57, is the newest chapter, covered in the development section.

I read Fredonia in four parts. The grouping is mine, from the geography and from where the October 2026 listings geocoded.

The first is the village: an older core along Fredonia Avenue near the old rail line, 1970s-era streets, and newer subdivisions such as Deer Meadow and the Village Green development. The Census geocoder placed listings on Deer Meadow Drive, Clover Lane, Emmer Avenue and Fredonia Avenue inside the village.

The second is Waubeka, the unincorporated river community in the town just west of the village. Wikipedia gives it 2.34 square miles of land along the Milwaukee River. October 2026 listings on Park Avenue and Loraine Drive and on Crystal Springs Drive, between the village and Waubeka, geocoded to the Town of Fredonia in the Northern Ozaukee School District.

The third is the Milwaukee River corridor itself, which runs along the village's western edge and through the town, with Waubedonia County Park on its east bank and a two-mile stretch of forest along the river around the park, according to Wikipedia.

The fourth is the farm town: most of the 34 square miles, with farmsteads, country houses on acreage and small kettle lakes and bogs in the north and west, including Spring Lake and Huiras Lake. Listings on County Road I and Kohler Road in the northern part of the town geocoded to the Random Lake School District.

The village has a broader mix than most villages its size. The 2020-2024 American Community Survey counts 843 housing units (plus or minus 100). Of those, 580 are single-family detached and 39 attached single-family, with 72 in three- and four-unit buildings, 106 in buildings of 5 to 9 units and 28 in buildings of 10 to 19. Of 832 occupied homes, 589, about 71%, are owner-occupied. The village's median home was built in 1974; the 1970s were its biggest decade, at 204 homes, followed by 125 from the 1990s and 114 from the 2000s. The ACS counts only 6 village homes from the 2010s and none since 2020.

The town is mostly detached houses on larger lots. The ACS for the town counts 881 units (plus or minus 162), 791 of them single-family detached and 40 mobile homes. Of 823 occupied homes, 719, about 87%, are owner-occupied. Its median home was built in 1958, and 287 homes, about a third, predate 1940, many of them farmhouses and older Waubeka houses.

The ACS puts the median owner value at $286,000 in the village (plus or minus $24,876) and $340,500 in the town (plus or minus $15,908). The village tops out low: 225 owner homes at $300,000 to $399,999, 40 at $400,000 to $499,999 and 4 above $500,000. The town has a thin upper tier: 28 owner homes at $500,000 to $749,999, 10 at $1 million to $1.5 million and 25 at $2 million or more, the last with a margin of error larger than the estimate.

Each type has its own checklist. A 1970s village house is usually due for windows, a roof and mechanicals. A pre-1940 farmhouse can come with old wiring, a fieldstone foundation, a well, a septic system and outbuildings. A house near the river needs a floodplain check, which the shoreland section covers.

Fredonia is not a $2 million market, and I would say that up front. On October 5, 2026, a public Fredonia search page showed 23 listings, none above $900,000. The top end is acreage with large outbuildings, not lakefront.

The highest-priced listing that geocoded to the Town of Fredonia was a 1998 contemporary of 3,841 square feet on County Road I, on about 4.7 acres in the Random Lake School District, listed at $839,900, about $218 a square foot. Its listing describes walls of windows, a four-car heated garage and a heated 48-by-100-foot pole barn. Below it, a four-bedroom house of 3,054 square feet on Crystal Springs Drive was listed at $574,900, a four-bedroom of 2,630 square feet on Loraine Drive was pending at $519,000, and a four-bedroom on Kohler Road in the Random Lake district was pending at $424,900.

The page's top listing overall, $874,900 for a four-bedroom house of 2,719 square feet on River Drive, carries a Fredonia 53021 address but geocodes to the Town of Farmington in Washington County. I'd treat it as a Washington County property for taxes and schools.

Land is available in small pieces. On the same day, a 4.66-acre parcel on Fredonia Avenue was listed at $329,900, about $70,800 an acre, a 2-acre parcel on Clover Valley Road at $169,000 and a 1.67-acre parcel on Highland Drive at $174,900. Zillow's top-tier index for ZIP 53021 was $590,204 in August 2026, up 5.1% in a year, which is the honest center of Fredonia's upper market.

For Lake Michigan frontage, the nearest options are in the Town of Port Washington, where lakefront houses listed at $1.2 million to $1.25 million on the same day, or Belgium. For $2 million and up, buyers look farther south at Mequon or the North Shore suburbs such as River Hills.

Zillow tracks Fredonia as one area. Zillow's typical home value for Fredonia was $418,767 in August 2026, up 5.7% from $396,123 a year earlier and about 10.6% over two years. That is close to Belgium, at $414,195, and above Port Washington, at $392,624, but below Ozaukee County, at $507,273. Zillow's index for ZIP 53021 was $424,459.

Sales are few. Redfin's monthly data counts 22 sales in Fredonia in the 12 months through May 2026, against 20 the year before. Monthly medians ranged from $274,500 to $465,000. In May 2026 the median was $330,000 on three sales, with 46 days on market, and homes sold at about 95% of list price; in five of the nine months from September 2025 through May 2026 the sale-to-list ratio was under 100%.

The October 2026 listings give the middle of the market. In the village, a four-bedroom of 2,441 square feet on Deer Meadow Drive was listed at $649,900, a two-bedroom condominium on Deer Meadow Drive at $388,800, a house on Clover Lane was pending at $469,900, and three-bedroom houses on Emmer Avenue and Fillmore Street were listed at $335,000 and $325,000. A multifamily building on Fredonia Avenue was listed at $750,000.

With one to four sales a month, one sale can swing the Redfin median by $100,000, so I don't read a trend into any one month. Zillow estimates every home; Redfin reports what closed. Price a specific house from nearby comparable sales in the same municipality and school district. If you're running numbers, my guide to how much house you can afford in 2026 is a good place to start.

Wisconsin taxes run on assessed value. The local assessor sets it, the Department of Revenue sets an equalized value, and the ratio between them is the assessment level. The rate, in dollars per $1,000, applies to the assessed value.

The village is in one school district, Northern Ozaukee. The DOR's 2025 report puts its assessment level at 0.87, and Ozaukee County's 2025 rate sheet gives a ratio of 0.8697. The net rate is $13.57 per $1,000 of assessed value, with a lottery credit of $183.28 and a first dollar credit of $61.09. Of that, the village's own levy is about $5.07; the school levy is about $7.81 before the state credit. On a $418,767 house, Zillow's typical Fredonia value, the assessed value would be about $364,200 and the 2025 bill about $4,941, or about $4,697 after both credits for a primary residence, roughly 1.12% of price.

The town is lower. The DOR puts its assessment level at 0.94, and the county ratio is 0.9405. The town's rate is $10.08 per $1,000 in the Northern Ozaukee School District and $10.50 in the Random Lake School District, and its municipal levy is about $2.32. The DOR's school apportionment splits the town almost evenly: about $188 million of value in Northern Ozaukee and $202 million in Random Lake. On the same $418,767 house, the bill after credits would be about $3,725 in the Northern Ozaukee area or $3,869 in the Random Lake area. On the $839,900 County Road I listing in the Random Lake area, it would be about $8,297 before credits.

So the same house costs about $830 to $970 a year more in the village than in the town. The DOR's effective rates on full value are 1.180% in the village and 0.969% in the town. The DOR lists one tax incremental district in the village, the industrial park covered below.

The lottery credit applies only to a primary residence, and Wisconsin's real estate transfer fee is $0.30 per $100 of value, normally paid by the seller. This is general information, not tax advice.

Fredonia's water is the Milwaukee River, not Lake Michigan. The river runs along the village's western boundary and through the town past Waubeka. The town also has small lakes and bogs left in glacial kettles. The DNR's Ozaukee County lake list gives Spring Lake, on the Sheboygan County line, 60 acres and Huiras Lake 21 acres. None of them is a boating lake in the sense an Illinois buyer means. Wikipedia's town entry describes many bogs and swamps in those kettles, with stands of white cedar and tamarack, shrub carrs and sedge meadows, which is why so much of the town's low ground is wetland. Under the land the bedrock is Silurian limestone, part of the Racine Dolomite, visible at old quarries along the river west of the village. For a buyer, the wetlands and the rock both matter: wetland limits where a house, driveway or septic field can go, and shallow bedrock can affect well depth and septic design.

In the town, which is unincorporated, shorelands fall under Ozaukee County's shoreland chapter, Chapter 19, dated March 4, 2026. It applies within 1,000 feet of lakes and within 300 feet of navigable rivers and streams, or to the landward edge of the floodplain if that is farther. New buildings must sit 75 feet from the ordinary high-water mark, with a reduced setback allowed in some cases between existing houses, and impervious surface on regulated lots is capped at 15%, or up to 30% with a permit and mitigation. Inside the village, its own zoning and the state's rules for villages apply, so the village is the office to call.

On the river, the floodplain is the issue. For any house on River Road, along Waubeka's riverfront or near the village's western edge, I'd check the FEMA flood map, ask whether the house is in the floodplain and price flood insurance before writing an offer. Waubedonia County Park has boat launches for paddling and small boats on the river.

The village runs its own water and sewer. Its water and sanitary sewer page describes publicly owned utilities funded by user fees, not property taxes, with water rates set under Public Service Commission rules and sewer rates set by the village board. When I look at a village house, I'd ask for the last year of utility bills and whether any street or utility work is planned, since special assessments can be added to the tax bill.

In the town, expect a private well and septic system on most parcels, and confirm it on every listing. The village's municipal lab offers private well testing to the public, and the same page recommends testing a private well for bacteria once a year and for nitrate once a year. I'd add a septic evaluation and the county permit records to that list before closing on a town property.

Fire and ambulance service come from the Fredonia Fire Department, which Wikipedia says was formed in 1923, serves as first responder for both the village and the town, works with the volunteer fire department in Waubeka, and also provides ambulance service for the Village of Belgium.

The Highway H bridge over the Milwaukee River in Waubeka is a practical issue for anyone living west of the river. The Ozaukee Press reported on September 23, 2026 that the 88-foot bridge was closed in August 2026 after its steel reinforcing deteriorated, that a county committee voted to reopen it with steel plates while it waits for state replacement funding, and that a permanent replacement could take six years or more.

The village and the southern part of the town are in the Northern Ozaukee School District, a K-12 district whose main schools are in Fredonia. Ozaukee Elementary, K4 through 5, enrolled 344." Ozaukee Middle School, grades 6 through 8, enrolled 174." Ozaukee High School enrolled 199." The district's listed enrollment of 1,154 includes a statewide virtual school; the DPI also lists Sugar Maple Nature School, K through 6, with 100 enrolled.

The northern part of the town is in the Random Lake School District, whose schools are in Random Lake, in Sheboygan County. The district enrolled 648.

Wikipedia describes the split as the town's southern wards in Northern Ozaukee and its northern wards in Random Lake. In October 2026, listings on County Road I and Kohler Road geocoded to Random Lake, and listings near Waubeka geocoded to Northern Ozaukee. The district also sets the tax rate, about 42 cents per $1,000 apart, so confirm both on the tax bill.

Highway 57 runs through the village and the town and connects south to I-43 at Saukville. I ran free-flow routes on the OSRM routing engine, with no traffic, from the village center on October 5, 2026. Treat them as best-case estimates.

Port Washington and its Lake Michigan harbor are about 9 miles and 14 minutes away. Cedarburg is about 14 miles and 23 minutes, and Sheboygan about 28 miles and 40 minutes. Downtown Milwaukee is about 32 miles and 42 minutes, and Milwaukee's airport about 38 miles and 52 minutes.

To Illinois, Fredonia is well past 90 minutes. Vernon Hills is about 92 miles and 113 minutes in free-flow traffic, downtown Chicago about 118 miles and 146 minutes, and O'Hare about 115 miles, with the router giving 157 minutes. For a Lake County, Illinois buyer, Fredonia is a Milwaukee-area country home, not an Illinois commute.

There is no passenger rail; the Wisconsin and Southern line through the village carries freight. The nearest Chicago train is Amtrak's Hiawatha from the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, about 42 minutes away. Amtrak's schedule feed for the week of October 6, 2026 showed six weekday trains to Chicago, the first at 7:15 a.m., at 99 to 112 minutes. Wikipedia also describes an Ozaukee County shared-ride taxi that must be booked ahead.

The village maintains seven public parks, according to Wikipedia, with playgrounds, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, picnic shelters, an ice rink and an 18-hole disc golf course.

The bigger draw is the river. Waubedonia County Park, on the east bank of the Milwaukee River, is the only Ozaukee County park with overnight campsites, and it has ball diamonds, tennis courts and boat launches. Wikipedia describes a two-mile stretch of forest along the river around the park, part of the original woods that once covered the area.

The Ozaukee Washington Land Trust maintains three preserves in the town. The Hames Nature Preserve is seven acres of lowland forest on the Milwaukee River with trails. The land trust maintains 113 of the 435 acres in the Huiras Lake State Natural Area, a forest and wetland with bogs and conifer swamps. MacLaurin Woods is a five-acre preserve in western Fredonia with trails, open to deer hunting in season.

Lake Michigan is a short drive east. Harrington Beach State Park in the Town of Belgium and the Port Washington harbor are each under 20 minutes away, and the Ozaukee Interurban Trail can be picked up in Belgium or Port Washington.

The village is trying to restart home building. The Ozaukee Press reported that in January 2026 the village board approved Fredonia First, which waives $5,000 of residential building permit fees on a new house, against typical fees of $6,000 to $8,000, provided the builder passes the savings to the buyer through a lower lot price or construction cost. Hillcrest Builders told the paper it has more than 30 vacant lots in the Village Green development. On October 5, 2026, three 0.27-acre lots on Glendale Road and a 0.33-acre lot on South Gate Drive, all listed by Hillcrest Realty, were priced at $64,000 to $72,900.

The village's industrial park is its other project. On July 8, 2026, the Ozaukee Press reported that the 51-acre TIF district, created in 2021 and scheduled to close in 2040, had drawn about $5 million of village investment in land, grading, roads and utilities, that the land was now valued at about $7.5 million, and that one 15-acre lot remained. Businesses there include a storage expansion and a paperboard plant doubling in size, near Highway 57.

The regional change is power. The Ozaukee Press reported on September 16, 2026 that American Transmission Company refiled its application for the high-voltage lines to serve the data center campus in Port Washington, with a revised preferred route that still affects Fredonia, and that state review could take about a year, with about 17 months of construction after approval. For any parcel in the town, I'd read the filed route maps before buying.

The Village of Fredonia has a village marshal, and the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office provides police service when the marshal is off duty and throughout the Town of Fredonia. Fire and ambulance service come from the Fredonia Fire Department, with the Waubeka volunteer department. I don't characterize the safety of any town or neighborhood. Anyone who wants the data can ask the sheriff's office or look up its reported figures on the FBI Crime Data Explorer.

The town's tax rate is near $10 per $1,000 of assessed value, and village lots are being discounted to draw new houses.

The trade-offs are concrete. There is no lakefront and no $2 million tier; the top listing in the town was $839,900. The village's rate is about $3.50 per $1,000 higher than the town's. Most town homes rely on a well and septic. The Waubeka bridge will be on steel plates for years. The power-line route still crosses Fredonia. A Fredonia address can be in Washington County. And Vernon Hills is about 113 minutes away in free-flow traffic.

I'd pull the tax bill and confirm the county, municipality, school district, floodplain status and well and septic for the exact parcel before falling for a property.