Best Places54701, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54701, 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.
54701 ranks 4,684th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 54701
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.
54701's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54701 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Short commute16.9 minutes each way, better than 94% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 54701 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,302 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 41% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 42% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54701
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54701 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,353, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 54701's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 54701
54701 runs younger 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 54701.
Who works in 54701, and how
Work in 54701 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 54701
54701 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 98% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 54701 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54701, month by month
54701 sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 54701
The nearest airport, Chippewa Valley Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54701
Schools across 54701 average a B, better than 66% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Meadowview ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Altoona IntermediateB+ · 52% proficient
- Robbins ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- South MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Delong MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Fall Creek MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Memorial HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Fall Creek HighB− · 43% proficient
- Altoona HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54701 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54701 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 54701 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 54701 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 73% of zip codes and health care access beats 73%.
Common questions about living in 54701
Is 54701 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54701 ranks 4,684th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, few empty homes, and short commutes, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54701 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $320,192. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $80,353 median income, cost of living beats 66% of zip codes.
Is 54701 safe?
Yes, 54701 is safer than 56% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $320 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 54701?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 10. That works out to about 116 pleasant days a year, more than 73% of zip codes.
Is 54701 good for families?
Schools beat 66% of zip codes, crime safety beats 56%, and childcare runs $1,302 a month.
Compare 54701 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54701. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54701 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.
54701 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54701: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54701: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54701: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54701: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54701 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.