Best Places54848, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54848, 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.
54848 ranks 21,850th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 54848
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.
54848's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54848 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Short commute20.6 minutes each way, better than 82% of zip codes
Where 54848 ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Household income$56,491 median, better than only 19% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54848
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54848 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,491, 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 54848's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 54848
54848 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 54848.
Who works in 54848, and how
Work in 54848 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 54848
54848 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 99% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 54848 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54848, month by month
54848 sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 9° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 54848
The nearest airport, Chippewa Valley Regional, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54848
Schools across 54848 average a C, better than 30% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ladysmith ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Flambeau ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Bruce ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bruce MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Ladysmith MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Flambeau MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Ladysmith HighD− · 15% proficient
- Flambeau HighD− · 14% proficient
- Bruce HighF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54848 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54848 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 54848 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54848
Is 54848 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54848 ranks 21,850th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, cheap car insurance, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54848 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $145,301. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $56,491 median income, cost of living beats 31% of zip codes.
Is 54848 safe?
54848 is safer than 34% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $392 per resident a year.
Compare 54848 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54848. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54848 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.
54848 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54848: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54848: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54848: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54848: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54848 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.