Best Places54561, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54561, 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.
54561 ranks 13,147th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 54561
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.
54561's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54561 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 84% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 83% of zip codes
Where 54561 ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- 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
What it costs to buy a home in 54561
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54561 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $75,217; 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 54561'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 54561
54561 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 54561.
Who works in 54561, and how
Work in 54561 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 54561
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 54561.
What the weather is like in 54561, month by month
54561 sees roughly 90 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 54561
The nearest airport, Rhinelander/Oneida County, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 199 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54561
Schools across 54561 average a B−, better than 56% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- North Lakeland ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Northland Pines Elementary-st GermainB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northland Pines MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Northland Pines HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54561 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54561 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 54561 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54561
Is 54561 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54561 ranks 13,147th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54561 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $325,836. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $75,217 median income, cost of living beats 45% of zip codes.
Is 54561 safe?
Yes, 54561 is safer than 68% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $255 per resident a year.
Compare 54561 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54561. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54561 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.
54561 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54561: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54561: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54561: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54561: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54561 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.