Best Places54629, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54629, 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.
54629 ranks 15,533rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 54629
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.
54629's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54629 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of zip codes
Where 54629 ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 27% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- School gradeC, better than only 30% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54629
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54629 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,200, 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 54629's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 54629
54629 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 54629.
Who works in 54629, and how
Work in 54629 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 54629
54629 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 98% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 54629 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54629, month by month
54629 sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 54629
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54629
Schools across 54629 average a C, better than 30% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Trempealeau ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Cochrane-fountain City ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Arcadia ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Galesville-ettrick-trempealeau MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Arcadia MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Galesville-ettrick-trempealeau HighC− · 28% proficient
- Cochrane-fountain City HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Arcadia HighF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54629 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54629 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 54629 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54629
Is 54629 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54629 ranks 15,533rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, health care access, and the weather, and lowest on a weak job market and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54629 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,884. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $73,200 median income, cost of living beats 62% of zip codes.
Is 54629 safe?
54629 is safer than 46% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
Compare 54629 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54629. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54629 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.
54629 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54629: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54629: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54629: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54629: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54629 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.