Best Places54868, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54868, 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.
54868 ranks 11,884th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 54868
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.
54868's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54868 ranks high
- Short commute15.5 minutes each way, better than 96% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 54868 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 30% of zip codes
- Household income$65,612 median, better than only 34% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 38% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54868
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54868 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,612, 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 54868's effective rate of 1.38%, 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 54868
54868'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 54868.
Who works in 54868, and how
Work in 54868 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 54868
54868 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 92% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 54868 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 54868, month by month
54868 sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 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° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 54° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 39° |
Flying in and out of 54868
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 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54868
Schools across 54868 average a C+, better than 50% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Chetek-weyerhaeuser Roselawn ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Cameron ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Hilltop ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chetek-weyerhaeuser MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Rice Lake MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Cameron MiddleB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Cameron HighC · 33% proficient
- Cumberland HighC− · 28% proficient
- Rice Lake HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54868 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54868 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 54868 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54868
Is 54868 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54868 ranks 11,884th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, cheap car insurance, and civic engagement, and lowest on property taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54868 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,541. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $65,612 median income, cost of living beats 38% of zip codes.
Is 54868 safe?
Yes, 54868 is safer than 70% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $266 per resident a year.
Compare 54868 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54868. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54868 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.
54868 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54868: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54868: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54868: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54868: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54868 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.