Best Places54948, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54948, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
54948 ranks 19,990th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 54948
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.
54948's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54948 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 54948 ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54948
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54948 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,472, 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 54948's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 54948
54948 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 54948.
Who works in 54948, and how
Work in 54948 centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 54948
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 54948.
What the weather is like in 54948, month by month
54948 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 20° | 14° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 33° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 60° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of 54948
The nearest airport, Central Wisconsin, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54948
Schools across 54948 average a D+, better than 10% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Tigerton ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Marion ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Bowler ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shawano Community MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Marion HighC− · 27% proficient
- Shawano HighD · 18% proficient
- Bowler HighD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54948 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54948 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 54948 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54948
Is 54948 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54948 ranks 19,990th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low crime, and low disaster risk, and lowest on internet speeds and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54948 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $146,566. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $64,472 median income, cost of living beats 38% of zip codes.
Is 54948 safe?
Yes, 54948 is safer than 85% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
Compare 54948 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54948. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54948 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.
54948 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54948: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54948: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54948: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54948: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54948 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.