Best Places54494, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54494, 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.
54494 ranks 12,382nd 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 54494
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.
54494's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54494 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 76% of zip codes
Where 54494 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- School gradeC−, better than only 27% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,054 a month, better than only 29% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 30% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 31% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54494
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54494 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,383, 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 54494's effective rate of 1.50%, 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 54494
54494 runs older 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 54494.
Who works in 54494, and how
Work in 54494 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 54494
54494 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 88% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 54494 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54494, month by month
54494 sees roughly 110 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 54494
The nearest airport, Central Wisconsin, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54494
Schools across 54494 average a C−, better than 27% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Port Edwards Ed Heuer Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Washington ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Grant ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benjamin Franklin Junior HighB− · 42% proficient
- P J Jacobs Junior HighB− · 42% proficient
- John Edwards MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Lincoln HighC · 34% proficient
- Stevens Point Area Senior HighC · 31% proficient
- Nekoosa HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54494 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54494 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 54494 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 54494 suits
Families
Schools land around the 27th percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Retirees
The weather beats 69% of zip codes and health care access beats 85%.
Common questions about living in 54494
Is 54494 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54494 ranks 12,382nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on property taxes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54494 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,031. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $76,383 median income, cost of living beats 68% of zip codes.
Is 54494 safe?
Yes, 54494 is safer than 60% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 54494?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 27 with lows near 12. That works out to about 110 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of zip codes.
Is 54494 good for families?
Schools beat 27% of zip codes, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $1,054 a month.
Compare 54494 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54494. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54494 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.
54494 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54494: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54494: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54494: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54494: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54494 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.