When you live in Madison for a while and someone asks, "Where do you live?" if you mention Shorewood Hills, Maple Bluff, or Nakoma, they will likely respond, "Oh, you live in a nice neighborhood."

Just like in Korea, where you can get a sense of a neighborhood just by hearing its name, there are places like that here too.

Moreover, if you look at housing prices these days, these neighborhoods are definitely not affordable. As of May 2026, the median sale price for homes in Madison is about $440,000.

However, Shorewood Hills has a recent median price of about $1.1 million, and Maple Bluff is a staggering $1.5 million. Nakoma is also around $950,000. While these are small neighborhoods with not many sales, the monthly numbers can fluctuate significantly, but they are definitely on a different level compared to the Madison average.

Shorewood Hills has a location that is quite enviable. It is right next to Lake Mendota and the UW-Madison campus is just around the corner. The trees are mature, making the whole neighborhood lush, and as you go further in, you find a mix of older luxury homes and modern remodeled houses. Naturally, homes close to the lake are more expensive. Interestingly, although it feels like a neighborhood within Madison, it is administratively an independent Village of Shorewood Hills.

Maple Bluff has a different vibe. It is a small village located east of Lake Mendota, and it has an old American upscale neighborhood feel rather than flashy new homes declaring, "I'm upscale." There are classic homes under large trees, and the Maple Bluff Country Club is also here. With the governor's mansion of Wisconsin located here, the neighborhood's significance is undeniable.

The prices are also quite high. The recent median sale price is around $1.5 million, and the median price per square foot is about $424.

However, since it is such a small area, there are times when only a few homes are sold in a month.

So, you shouldn't think of it as "all Maple Bluff homes are $1.5 million"; the median price can vary greatly depending on which homes sold that month.

Nakoma feels a bit more like a realistic upscale neighborhood in Madison. It is not a separate village but is part of the city of Madison, and there are many beautiful homes built around the Nakoma Golf Club in the 1920s and 30s. The tree-lined streets are lush, and each house has a different design, creating a completely different atmosphere compared to the newly built suburban housing developments.

That said, it's not cheap either. The recent median sale price is about $950,000, with a median price per square foot of about $380.

At the same time, the overall median price in Madison was about $440,000, so it's nearly double that.

Ultimately, if you see a home priced at $800,000 in any of these three neighborhoods, it might elicit a reaction of "Wow, that's expensive," but depending on the situation, it could also lead to, "Oh? At this price in this neighborhood, maybe I should take a look?" Especially large homes by the lake or well-remodeled houses are in the market for well over $1 million.

Still, the reason these neighborhoods are popular is that it's not just about buying a house. It's about living with the lake, old trees, schools, parks, golf courses, access to the university and downtown, and the neighborhood atmosphere that has developed over decades.

If you only look at the overall housing prices in Madison and think, "It's a $400,000 city," and then check out listings in Shorewood Hills or Maple Bluff, you might be quite surprised.

It's the same everywhere. If there's a good school district, a view of the lake, and an old upscale neighborhood, it won't be cheap in Wisconsin.