Best Places54562, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54562, 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.
54562 ranks 12,991st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 54562
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.
54562's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54562 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of zip codes
Where 54562 ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 31% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54562
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54562 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $71,654; 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 54562's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 54562
54562 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 54562.
Who works in 54562, and how
Work in 54562 centers on hospitality & food and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 54562
54562 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 97% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 54562 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54562, month by month
54562 sees roughly 113 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 54562
The nearest airport, Rhinelander/Oneida County, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 206 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54562
Schools across 54562 average a C+, better than 50% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Three Lakes ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Sugar Camp ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Northland Pines Elementary-eagle RiverC+ · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northland Pines MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- James Williams MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Three Lakes Junior HighC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Three Lakes HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Rhinelander HighC · 32% proficient
- Northland Pines HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54562 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54562 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 54562 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54562
Is 54562 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54562 ranks 12,991st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and cheap car insurance, 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 54562 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $296,830. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $71,654 median income, cost of living beats 41% of zip codes.
Is 54562 safe?
Yes, 54562 is safer than 60% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $288 per resident a year.
Compare 54562 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54562. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54562 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.
54562 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54562: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54562: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54562: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54562: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54562 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.