Living in Delavan, WI: Real Estate and Relocation Guide
Quick answer: Delavan sits in the middle of the Lake Geneva and Southern Lakes Region of southeastern Wisconsin, about 90 minutes from Chicago and 50 from Milwaukee. It is 2 jurisdictions: the City of Delavan holds the downtown north of the water, and the Town of Delavan surrounds Delavan Lake, 1,906 acres and 52 feet deep. Non-lake homes ran a $340,000 median across 121 sales in the 12 months through August 21, 2026. Most lake property is on public sewer through the Delavan Lake Sanitary District and on private wells.
This guide covers the practical questions: jurisdictions, schools, utilities, parks, shopping, healthcare and drive times.
The City of Delavan and the Town of Delavan
The distinction matters for taxes, utilities, services and school assignment.
The City of Delavan covers roughly 5.5 square miles around the downtown on Walworth Avenue, with a population of about 8,400. Municipal water, sewer and refuse collection. Mayor and council government. Grid streets, sidewalks, and housing stock running from the early 1900s through recent construction.
The Town of Delavan wraps the city to the south and east, with a population of about 5,800 and a town board government. Lower density, larger lots, and the entire Delavan Lake shoreline. The City of Delavan holds no lake frontage.
Delavan is in Walworth County. The county seat is Elkhorn, about 5 minutes north. Area code is 262. The ZIP is 53115 and it covers both jurisdictions.
Utilities and municipal services
The City of Delavan runs municipal water and sewer. Around the lake, the provides sewer but not water, so properties in the district are on public sewer and a private well. The district was created in 1969 to keep septic leachate out of the lake. It operates roughly 55 miles of gravity and force mains and 13 lift stations, pumping to the Walworth County Metropolitan Sewerage District for treatment. The district also runs the aquatic plant management program and assists the Town with lake level monitoring and the Borg Dam.
Outside the City and outside the district, in the farm country west and south, properties are on private well and private septic.
Confirm which applies on any specific address before you write an offer. The tax bill, not the mailing address, tells you the jurisdiction. Utilities also sit alongside the in the real carrying cost of a home here.
Schools and education
Most 53115 addresses are in the Delavan-Darien School District, 324 Beloit Street, (262) 728-2642. District schools include Turtle Creek Elementary at 1235 Creek Road, Darien Elementary at 125 S Walworth Street in Darien, Phoenix Middle School at 414 Beloit Street, and Delavan-Darien High School.
Boundaries do not follow the ZIP code. The Town of Delavan states that depending on where in the Town you live, your district may or may not be Delavan-Darien. Some eastern Town addresses feed Big Foot High School in Walworth instead. Verify the assignment for a specific parcel with the district office before you commit, since neither the mailing address nor the ZIP settles it.
The district is named for 2 communities. The Village of Darien sits about 8 minutes southwest on Highway 14, with a population near 1,600, and Darien Elementary is a district school. Delavan and Darien share a high school and a middle school, so a Darien address and a Delavan address can put students in the same buildings.
Wisconsin open enrollment. Any Wisconsin resident in 4K through grade 12 may apply to attend a public school district other than the one they live in, through the state open enrollment program. The regular application period runs February 2 through April 30 at 4 p.m. for the following school year, and late applications are not accepted. Both the resident and nonresident districts can deny an application for reasons set in state law, and a denial can be appealed to the Department of Public Instruction within 30 days. Transportation to a nonresident district is generally the parent's responsibility. Applications go to the nonresident district, not to DPI. Details and the online form are at , or call the DPI open enrollment line at (888) 245-2732.
Private and parochial options in the city include Our Redeemer Lutheran School at 416 W Geneva Street, Delavan Christian School at 848 Oak Street, and St. Andrew Parish School at 115 S 7th Street.
The Wisconsin School for the Deaf has operated in Delavan since 1852 and is the oldest school of its kind in the state. It sits at 309 W Walworth Avenue, serves deaf and hard of hearing students from age 3 through 21 across a PK-12 grade span, operates under the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and provides instruction in American Sign Language with both day and residential settings. Huff Hall serves as the dormitory. The school has shaped Delavan for over 170 years and is part of the identity of the town.
For higher education, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is about 20 minutes northwest and Gateway Technical College operates campuses in Elkhorn and Kenosha.
Aram Public Library
The serves the City of Delavan at 404 E Walworth Avenue, (262) 728-3111. It is a member of the Lakeshores Library System, so a card works at 29 member libraries across Walworth, Racine, Rock and Kenosha counties, including Fontana, Williams Bay, Lake Geneva, Elkhorn, East Troy, Darien, Genoa City, Walworth and Sharon.
The library is in the middle of an expansion and renovation. The City was awarded $800,000 through the state Non-State Grant Program toward it, and the original Aram property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which required State Historic Preservation Office review of the exterior design. During construction the library has operated from 830 E Geneva Street, Suite B. Confirm the current location before a first visit.
Parks, trails and recreation
The City park system runs more than 100 acres. The ones worth knowing by name:
Paul Lange Arboretum, 24.6 acres on the northwest shore of Lake Comus on Terrace Street, with a 1.5 mile nature trail, benches, a gazebo, shoreline fishing, canoe access and a boat launch. Paved parking with 10 standard stalls and 4 for vehicles with boat trailers.
Ora Rice Arboretum, roughly 6 additional acres immediately north of the Paul Lange Arboretum.
Rudy Lange Sledding Hill at 170 S Terrace Street, a 1.4-acre hill north of Washington Street at Terrace Street. It is lighted through the winter and provides a 335-foot sledding run.
Swan Creek Trail, a gravel pedestrian and bike corridor along Swan Creek connecting the Lange Arboretum, Veterans Park, Terrace Park, Rudy Lange Sledding Hill, Lower Springs Park and Upper Springs Park, with benches, rest areas, restrooms and posted maps.
Congdon Park, 29.6 acres at the eastern gateway to the City on Geneva Street at I-43, with an open-air gazebo, a 0.9 mile perimeter walking trail, the Rotary Gardens with a waterfall feature, shoreline fishing and picnic areas.
Veterans Memorial Park, 25 acres north of Walworth Avenue. Terrace Park, 8.4 acres serving as a City entryway. Tower Park, a half-acre downtown park at the water tower on the north side of Walworth Avenue. Andy's Park, a skate park with a quarter pipe, wall ride and mini half pipe. Dibble Nature Trail along the north shore of Lake Comus, dedicated to the City in 1962 as a restored plant and wildlife area.
The City Parks and Recreation Department runs youth sports leagues, summer day camp, swim lessons and seasonal programming. Offerings change annually, so call the department for the current season.
Big Foot Beach State Park on Geneva Lake is about 10 minutes east: 1,550 acres, more than 5 miles of trails, fishing on Ceylon Lagoon and roughly 100 campsites. A state park sticker is required.
The Kettle Moraine State Forest, Southern Unit begins in the Town of La Grange, roughly 15 minutes north of Delavan. The La Grange trailhead area gives access to hiking, mountain biking, cross-country ski trails and segments of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, along with Whitewater Lake and Rice Lake inside the forest. It is the largest block of public land within reach of Delavan.
Winter
Delavan Lake freezes earlier than Geneva Lake because it is shallower, typically by late December or early January, which opens ice fishing, skating and ice walking on a longer calendar than the deeper lakes get.
Ice boating is an established winter activity on Delavan Lake. Hard-water sailing runs out of the Delavan Lake Yacht Club, which has hosted the Southern Wisconsin Iceboat Swap Meet, a regional gathering where sailors trade complete boats, sails, planks, hulls and runners. Delavan is one of the recognized ice sailing lakes in southern Wisconsin.
Rudy Lange Sledding Hill is lighted all winter. The hills behind the Wisconsin School for the Deaf off Richmond Road are a second local sledding spot. Turtle Lake Tap and Grill north of Delavan has hosted a community-shoveled ice rink on Turtle Lake. Lake Lawn Resort runs winter programming including skating, snowshoeing and cross-country ski rental. Grand Geneva's Mountain Top has lift-served downhill skiing about 20 minutes east.
Annual snowfall runs roughly 35 to 45 inches. December through February averages highs in the upper 20s to low 30s.
Downtown, history and the murals
Delavan was settled in 1836 by Colonel Samuel F. Phoenix as a temperance colony. The temperance experiment ended; the town did not.
From 1847 the town became the winter headquarters of the American circus. Edmund Mabie established winter quarters here and 26 circus operations eventually followed, including the organization of the P.T. Barnum circus in 1871. The Mabie family turned their farm into a guesthouse in 1878, which became Lake Lawn Resort.
Downtown Delavan holds the largest painted mural collection in Walworth County. The Walldogs muralist group worked here in 2017, adding to a collection that includes circus tributes, the Wisconsin School for the Deaf, Borg-Warner's World War II production, the Van Velzer Cigar Company, the Delavan stamp controversy and the Rodriguez Brothers Potato Farm. The murals are marked and function as a self-guided walking tour.
Tower Park sits on the north side of Walworth Avenue with an 1887 water tower that is a city landmark. Downtown Delavan does not have a town square. The historic core runs along Walworth Avenue, including a preserved vitrified brick street. The Phoenix Park Bandshell hosts outdoor concerts in the warm months. The Delavan Post Office, on the city's vitrified brick street, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. The Belfry Music Theatre presents professional productions.
The Frank Lloyd Wright houses
Between 1900 and 1905, 5 Chicago-area clients commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design summer residences on the south shore of Delavan Lake. All 5 remain private homes and none are open to the public.
| House | Address | Built |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Wallis Summer Residence, later Wallis-GoodSmith | 3407 South Shore Drive | 1900, boathouse 1897 |
| Fred B. Jones Residence, named Penwern | 3335 South Shore Drive | 1900 to 1903 |
| Charles S. Ross Residence | 3211 South Shore Drive | 1902 |
| George W. Spencer Residence | 3209 South Shore Drive | 1902 |
| A. P. Johnson Residence | 3455 South Shore Drive | 1905 |
Penwern is the largest, an estate with a main house, boathouse, stable and gate lodge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Architecturally significant shoreline property is among the hardest in the region to price, which our covers. The A. P. Johnson House was listed in 1982. Wright also designed a yacht club building for the lake in the same period.
Wallis was an Oak Park developer who marketed lots on the lake to his Chicago business and social circles, which is how the cluster came about. The Lake Lawn Queen tour boat passes the houses on its seasonal cruises.
Lake Lawn's grounds hold more than 40 preserved effigy mounds from Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi peoples, some dating to roughly 500 B.C. The Ho-Chunk name for the lake was Kay-chunk-er-rah and the Potawatomi name was Wau-ba-shaw-bess.
Delavan Lake
Delavan Lake is 1,906 acres with a maximum depth of 52 feet, the second largest lake in the region behind Geneva Lake. It is a drainage lake with clear water and heavy weed structure, and it allows full motorized use.
A rehabilitation project in the late 1980s restored water quality. The lake supports walleye, muskie, largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike and panfish. A weed harvester works it through the summer.
Public access is at Community Park on the northeast shore. Lake Lawn Resort operates the largest commercial marina on the lake, with slip rentals, transient docking and boat rentals. Whether a slip conveys with a property is a separate question, covered in our .
Our companion lifestyle site covers the and the .
Delavan Lake Yacht Club
The Delavan Lake Yacht Club at 1501 Cedar Point Drive is a member club and the organized sailing body on the lake. It runs 6 racing fleets with racing every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day, operates a sailing school and day camps, and carries a social calendar alongside the racing schedule. In winter the club is a center for ice boating.
Membership inquiries go through the club directly. It is a private club, not a public facility, so access comes with membership rather than with a lake address. Club membership is separate from any association water rights attached to a property, which are covered in our .
Frank Lloyd Wright designed a yacht club building for Delavan Lake in the same period he designed the 5 south shore houses.
Lake Lawn Resort and golf
Lake Lawn Resort at 2400 E Geneva Street covers 250 wooded acres on the north shore with 2 miles of Delavan Lake shoreline, and has operated since 1878. It has 271 guest rooms, a conference center, indoor and outdoor pools, a spa, a fitness center, mini-golf, tennis, basketball and sand volleyball, and an activity center with snowshoe, skate and cross-country ski rental.
Resort dining includes 1878 on the Lake, Lookout Bar and Eatery, Isle of Capri Cafe, Clubhouse Sports Bar and Grill, and The Hut. Heated lakeside igloos run as a seasonal winter offering.
Majestic Oaks at Lake Lawn is the on-property 18-hole course, with the 12th hole running along the shoreline. Delbrook Golf Club is the municipal course in the City. How golf and lake amenities affect value is covered in our guide to .
Delavan has no gated golf community. The 2 in the region are Geneva National on Lake Como and Abbey Springs above Geneva Lake, both roughly 20 minutes away and both condominium ownership throughout. The covers how those are structured.
Restaurants, coffee and downtown
On the lake. The Village Supper Club at 1725 S Shore Drive is a traditional Wisconsin supper club on the south shore, reopened after a 2024 renovation, serving Wednesday through Sunday. The Inn Between at 1522 Beckman Drive sits on the north side of the lake with outdoor seating and lake views, open daily. Lake Lawn Resort's dining is on the north shore.
Delavan Inlet, on Highway 50. Waterfront Pub and Grill at 408 State Road 50 is open daily from 11 a.m. Riga-Tony's Delicatezzi Italiano at 5576 State Road 50 is an Italian deli and grocery with a hot counter, open Wednesday through Sunday.
North of town. The Duck Inn Supper Club at N6214 WI-89 is in Richmond Township, roughly 15 minutes north of Delavan on Highway 89, and traces to the Prohibition era. It carries a Delavan mailing address but is not in the city.
Downtown. Pete's Parkside Pub is the downtown pub.
For coffee, Boxed and Burlap Downtown at 230 E Walworth Avenue opens at 6 a.m. daily and runs later Thursday through Saturday, with a second location on WI-67. 7 Brew Coffee at 1738 E Geneva Street opens at 5:30 a.m. daily. Blended House Coffee on Mound Road is a local roaster.
La Guanajuato at 233 E Walworth Avenue is a grocery and restaurant in one, open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Deeper lifestyle coverage lives on our companion site's .
Groceries, pharmacy, hardware and shopping
Groceries: Stinebrink's Piggly Wiggly at 1414 E Geneva Street, open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. ALDI at 2027 E Geneva Street. Walmart Supercenter at 1819 E Geneva Street, open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. La Guanajuato downtown.
Pharmacy: Walgreens at 445 S Wright Street and Walmart Pharmacy at 1819 E Geneva Street.
Hardware, farm and building supply: TNT Ace Hardware at 840 E Geneva Street. Home Lumber Company at 327 S 7th Street. Lowe's at 2015 E Geneva Street. Harbor Freight at 1456 E Geneva Street. Fleet Farm at 1516 E Geneva Street, open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays. Tractor Supply at 433 S Wright Street.
Fitness: Anytime Fitness at 1420 E Geneva Street, open 24 hours. Lake Lawn Resort operates a fitness center and spa.
The Highway 50 and East Geneva Street corridor holds most of the retail. Larger shopping runs to Elkhorn, Janesville or Lake Geneva.
Healthcare
Mercyhealth Delavan at 1038 E Geneva Street, (262) 728-4301, and Aurora Health Center at 1550 Hobbs Drive, (262) 740-4200, both operate clinics in town.
The nearest hospital is Aurora Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn, about 5 minutes north. Mercyhealth operates an urgent care on WI-67 south of town. Mercyhealth Hospital in Walworth and the Janesville hospitals are the other regional options.
Churches and community organizations
Congregations in the city include Delavan Christian Reformed Church at 850 Oak Street, Delavan United Church of Christ at 123 E Washington Street, Harvestpoint at 209 S 4th Street, The River Church at 910 E Geneva Street, Faith Community Church at 1500 Creek Road, Our Redeemer Lutheran at 416 W Geneva Street, and St. Andrew Parish at 115 S 7th Street.
The Delavan-Delavan Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, the Delavan Historical Society, Rotary, and the Delavan Aram Public Library Foundation are the visible civic organizations. Rotary Gardens in Congdon Park is a Rotary project.
The Delavan Active Seniors Corporation operates senior programming locally, and the Walworth County Aging and Disability Resource Center in Elkhorn is the county-level resource.
Events
The Walworth County Fair runs at the Elkhorn fairgrounds every Labor Day weekend, has operated since 1849, and draws over 100,000 people across its 6-day run. It is 5 minutes from Delavan.
Summer concerts run at the Phoenix Park Bandshell. Lake Lawn runs seasonal programming year round.
Getting around and drive times
Highway 50 runs east and west through Delavan to Lake Geneva, about 15 minutes east. Highway 11 connects to Interstate 43, which is about 5 minutes east.
| Destination | Approximate drive |
|---|---|
| Elkhorn | 5 minutes |
| Village of Darien | 8 minutes |
| Lake Geneva | 15 minutes |
| Janesville | 35 minutes |
| Milwaukee | 50 minutes |
| Milwaukee Mitchell airport | 50 minutes |
| Madison | 60 minutes |
| Chicago | 90 minutes |
| Chicago O'Hare | 75 to 90 minutes |
There is no commuter rail in Delavan. The nearest Metra station is Harvard, Illinois, about 35 minutes south. For owners managing a Wisconsin property from Illinois, see .
What homes cost
All figures below are trailing 12 months, closed sales from August 22, 2025 through August 21, 2026.
| Segment | Sales | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Non-lake single family | 121 | $340,000 |
| Delavan Lake access, single family | 27 | $427,500 |
| Delavan Lake condominium | 8 | $406,000 |
| Delavan Lake lakefront | 7 | $1,600,000 |
Non-lake single family carried 29 active listings at the data pull. Lake access rose from a $365,042 median on 33 sales the prior 12 months. Lakefront came down from $1,981,375 on 8 sales the prior year, on volume thin enough that the figure describes those specific houses.
Longer-run figures back to 2020 sit in the , the , the and the .
Property types and what each deed conveys are covered in .
Frequently asked questions
What school district is Delavan, WI in?
Most Delavan addresses are in the Delavan-Darien School District, with schools including Turtle Creek Elementary, Phoenix Middle School and Delavan-Darien High School. Boundaries do not follow the ZIP code, and some Town of Delavan addresses feed Big Foot High School in Walworth instead. Verify the assignment for a specific parcel with the district office at (262) 728-2642.
How far is Delavan, WI from Chicago?
About 90 minutes via Interstate 43 and Highway 50. Milwaukee runs roughly 50 minutes, Madison about an hour, Janesville about 35 minutes, and Lake Geneva about 15 minutes. The nearest Metra station is Harvard, Illinois, about 35 minutes south.
What is the difference between the City of Delavan and the Town of Delavan?
They are separate units of government. The City covers about 5.5 square miles around the downtown with municipal water and sewer. The Town wraps the city and holds the entire Delavan Lake shoreline, where properties are typically on public sewer through the Delavan Lake Sanitary District and on private wells. The City of Delavan has no lake frontage.
What is there to do in Delavan, Wisconsin?
Delavan Lake for boating and fishing, a City park system of more than 100 acres including the Paul Lange and Ora Rice Arboretums and the Swan Creek Trail, Rudy Lange Sledding Hill in winter, a downtown mural walking tour, the Phoenix Park Bandshell, Lake Lawn Resort, Majestic Oaks and Delbrook golf courses, Big Foot Beach State Park 10 minutes east, and the Walworth County Fair each Labor Day weekend.
Does Delavan, WI have a hospital?
Delavan has clinics rather than a hospital: Mercyhealth Delavan at 1038 E Geneva Street and Aurora Health Center at 1550 Hobbs Drive. The nearest hospital is Aurora Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn, about 5 minutes north.
What does a home cost in Delavan, WI?
Over the 12 months through August 21, 2026, non-lake single family homes ran a $340,000 median across 121 sales, Delavan Lake access single family homes ran $427,500 across 27 sales, Delavan Lake condominiums ran $406,000 across 8 sales, and Delavan Lake lakefront ran $1,600,000 across 7 sales.
What grocery stores are in Delavan, WI?
Stinebrink's Piggly Wiggly at 1414 E Geneva Street, ALDI at 2027 E Geneva Street, Walmart Supercenter at 1819 E Geneva Street, and La Guanajuato at 233 E Walworth Avenue, which operates as both a grocery and a restaurant.
Talk to someone who works this market
Kim and Joel Reyenga have worked the Delavan market for a combined 50 years, across City, Town, lakefront, lake access and condominium property. If you are selling, start with .
Call (262) 325-9867, or request a
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