Best Places54661, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54661, 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.
54661 ranks 7,208th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 54661
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.
54661's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54661 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 54661 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 36% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 42% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54661
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54661 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,759, 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 54661's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 54661
54661's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 54661.
Who works in 54661, and how
Work in 54661 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 54661
54661 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 54661 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54661, month by month
54661 sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 54661
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54661
Schools across 54661 average a B−, better than 58% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Trempealeau ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Washington-kosciusko ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Sand Lake ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Galesville-ettrick-trempealeau MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Holmen MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Holmen HighC− · 29% proficient
- Galesville-ettrick-trempealeau HighC− · 28% proficient
- Arcadia HighF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54661 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54661 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 54661 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54661
Is 54661 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54661 ranks 7,208th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, cheap car insurance, and health care access, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54661 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $271,800. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $86,759 median income, cost of living beats 76% of zip codes.
Is 54661 safe?
Yes, 54661 is safer than 94% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $168 per resident a year.
Compare 54661 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54661. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54661 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.
54661 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54661: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54661: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54661: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54661: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54661 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.