Best Places54403, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54403, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
54403 ranks 7,170th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 54403
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.
54403's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54403 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Short commute17.9 minutes each way, better than 92% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 54403 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 23% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,055 a month, better than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54403
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54403 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,694, 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 54403's effective rate of 1.77%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 54403
54403's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 54403.
Who works in 54403, and how
Work in 54403 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 54403
54403 has more parkland per resident than 94% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 54403 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54403, month by month
54403 sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 12° |
| April | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 54403
The nearest airport, Central Wisconsin, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54403
Schools across 54403 average a C, better than 32% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Riverside ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Birnamwood ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Hatley ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- John Muir MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Horace Mann MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- D C Everest MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- West HighC · 34% proficient
- D C Everest HighC− · 29% proficient
- East HighC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54403 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54403 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 54403 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 54403 suits
Families
Schools land around the 32nd percentile and crime safety beats 66%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 73% of zip codes and health care access beats 70%.
Common questions about living in 54403
Is 54403 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54403 ranks 7,170th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, cheap car insurance, and short commutes, and lowest on property taxes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54403 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $206,518. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $76,694 median income, cost of living beats 66% of zip codes.
Is 54403 safe?
Yes, 54403 is safer than 66% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $309 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 54403?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 12. That works out to about 115 pleasant days a year, more than 73% of zip codes.
Is 54403 good for families?
Schools beat 32% of zip codes, crime safety beats 66%, and childcare runs $1,055 a month.
Compare 54403 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54403. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54403 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.
54403 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54403: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54403: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54403: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54403: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54403 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.