Best Places54628, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54628, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
54628 ranks 24,942nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 54628
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.
54628's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54628 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 125 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 54628 ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54628
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54628 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,968, 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 54628's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 54628
54628 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 54628.
Who works in 54628, and how
Work in 54628 centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 54628
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 54628.
What the weather is like in 54628, month by month
54628 sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 63° |
| October | 58° | 49° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 54628
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54628
Schools across 54628 average a C, better than 37% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Seneca ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Viroqua ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Prairie View ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Viroqua MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Seneca Junior HighB · 47% proficient
- De Soto MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Viroqua HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Seneca HighD+ · 25% proficient
- De Soto HighF · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54628 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54628 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 54628 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54628
Is 54628 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54628 ranks 24,942nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, health care access, and tree cover, and lowest on empty homes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54628 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,231. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $68,968 median income, cost of living beats 41% of zip codes.
Is 54628 safe?
54628 is safer than 46% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
Compare 54628 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54628. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54628 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.
54628 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54628: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54628: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54628: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54628: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54628 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.