Best Places54656, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54656, 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.
54656 ranks 10,939th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 54656
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.
54656's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54656 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 84% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 54656 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- School gradeC−, better than only 22% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 27% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 33% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54656
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54656 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,407, 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 54656's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 54656
54656's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 54656.
Who works in 54656, and how
Work in 54656 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 54656
54656 has more parkland per resident than 71% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 54656 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54656, month by month
54656 sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 69° | 56° |
| October | 61° | 48° | 37° |
Flying in and out of 54656
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54656
Schools across 54656 average a C−, better than 22% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Cashton ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Bangor ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Norwalk-ontario-wilton ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Innovations Stem AcademyA · 60% proficient
- Tomah MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Black River Falls MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Melrose-mindoro Junior/senior HighC · 32% proficient
- Brookwood HighC− · 28% proficient
- Sparta High Point SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54656 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54656 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 54656 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54656
Is 54656 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54656 ranks 10,939th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, fast internet, and heat safety, and lowest on property taxes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54656 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $215,080. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $76,407 median income, cost of living beats 61% of zip codes.
Is 54656 safe?
Yes, 54656 is safer than 75% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $269 per resident a year.
Compare 54656 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54656. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54656 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.
54656 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54656: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54656: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54656: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54656: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54656 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.