Best Places54521, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54521, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
54521 ranks 11,898th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 54521
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.
54521's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54521 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Short commute20.4 minutes each way, better than 83% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of zip codes
Where 54521 ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54521
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54521 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $70,456; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 54521's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 54521
54521 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 54521.
Who works in 54521, and how
Work in 54521 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 54521
54521 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 89% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 54521 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54521, month by month
54521 sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 16° | 8° |
| April | 50° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 55° |
| October | 54° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of 54521
The nearest airport, Rhinelander/Oneida County, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 205 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54521
Schools across 54521 average a C+, better than 43% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Northland Pines Elementary-st GermainB+ · 53% proficient
- Three Lakes ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Sugar Camp ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northland Pines MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- James Williams MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Three Lakes Junior HighC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- School Of Options & Applied Research HighB− · 42% proficient
- Three Lakes HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Rhinelander HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54521 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54521 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 54521 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54521
Is 54521 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54521 ranks 11,898th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, cheap car insurance, and health care access, and lowest on distance from a big city and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54521 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $287,785. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $70,456 median income, cost of living beats 39% of zip codes.
Is 54521 safe?
Yes, 54521 is safer than 80% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $233 per resident a year.
Compare 54521 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54521. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54521 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.
54521 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54521: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54521: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54521: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54521: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54521 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.