Best Places54004, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54004, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
54004 ranks 18,118th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 54004
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
54004's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54004 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 54004 ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- School gradeC−, better than only 24% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54004
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54004 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,343, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 54004's effective rate of 1.16%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 54004
54004 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 54004.
Who works in 54004, and how
Work in 54004 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 54004
54004 has more parkland per resident than 97% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 54004 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54004, month by month
54004 sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| July | 79° | 69° | 59° |
| October | 56° | 46° | 39° |
Flying in and out of 54004
The nearest airport, Chippewa Valley Regional, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54004
Schools across 54004 average a C−, better than 24% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Farm ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Amery IntermediateB · 49% proficient
- Turtle Lake ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amery MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Clear Lake Junior HighB− · 40% proficient
- Prairie Farm MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Clear Lake HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Prairie Farm HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Amery HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54004 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54004 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 54004 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54004
Is 54004 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54004 ranks 18,118th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, a strong job market, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54004 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,190. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $76,343 median income, cost of living beats 50% of zip codes.
Is 54004 safe?
54004 is safer than 36% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
Compare 54004 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54004. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54004 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
54004 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54004: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54004: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54004: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54004: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54004 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.