Best Places54481, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54481, 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.
54481 ranks 12,768th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 54481
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.
54481's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54481 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Short commute16.7 minutes each way, better than 94% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 54481 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 29% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,055 a month, better than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54481
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54481 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,969, 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 54481's effective rate of 1.45%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 54481
54481 runs younger than the country, 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 54481.
Who works in 54481, and how
Work in 54481 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in 54481
54481 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 98% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 54481 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54481, month by month
54481 sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 54° | 42° | 32° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of 54481
The nearest airport, Central Wisconsin, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 137 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54481
Schools across 54481 average a C+, better than 46% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Bannach ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Mcdill ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Washington ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benjamin Franklin Junior HighB− · 42% proficient
- P J Jacobs Junior HighB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Point Of Discovery SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Stevens Point Area Senior HighC · 31% proficient
- Charles F Fernandez Center Alt LearningF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54481 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54481 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 54481 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 54481 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 54481
Is 54481 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54481 ranks 12,768th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and short commutes, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54481 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,198. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $63,969 median income, cost of living beats 37% of zip codes.
Is 54481 safe?
54481 is safer than 29% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $425 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 54481?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 11. That works out to about 105 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of zip codes.
Is 54481 good for families?
Schools beat 46% of zip codes, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $1,055 a month.
Compare 54481 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54481. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54481 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.
54481 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54481: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54481: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54481: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54481: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54481 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.