Best Places54984, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 54984, 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.
54984 ranks 17,826th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 54984
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.
54984's strengths and weaknesses
Where 54984 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 81% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 54984 ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 54984
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 54984 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,505, 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 54984's effective rate of 1.20%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 54984
54984 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 54984.
Who works in 54984, and how
Work in 54984 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 54984
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 54984.
What the weather is like in 54984, month by month
54984 sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 54984
The nearest airport, Appleton International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around 54984
Schools across 54984 average a C+, better than 41% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Wild Rose ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Riverview ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Waupaca Learning Center ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waupaca MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Parkside SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Almond-bancroft MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Wild Rose HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Waupaca HighC · 33% proficient
- Weyauwega HighD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 54984 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
54984 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 54984 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 54984
Is 54984 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 54984 ranks 17,826th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, health care access, and a strong job market, and lowest on empty homes and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 54984 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,631. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $64,505 median income, cost of living beats 32% of zip codes.
Is 54984 safe?
Yes, 54984 is safer than 80% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $234 per resident a year.
Compare 54984 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 54984. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 54984 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.
54984 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 54984: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 54984: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 54984: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 54984: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
54984 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.