Best PlacesBlack River Falls, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Black River Falls, 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.
Black River Falls ranks 27,849th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Black River Falls
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.
Black River Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Black River Falls ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- Short commute22.0 minutes each way, better than 80% of towns
Where Black River Falls ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Black River Falls
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Black River Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,293, 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 Black River Falls' effective rate of 1.30%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Black River Falls
Black River Falls 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 Black River Falls.
Who works in Black River Falls, and how
Work in Black River Falls centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Black River Falls
Black River Falls has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Black River Falls and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Black River Falls, month by month
Black River Falls sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 18° | 9° |
| April | 58° | 44° | 31° |
| July | 84° | 70° | 57° |
| October | 61° | 48° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Black River Falls
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Black River Falls
Schools across Black River Falls average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Melrose-mindoro ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Blair-taylor ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Red Creek ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tomah MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Black River Falls MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Sparta Meadowview MiddleC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Melrose-mindoro Junior/senior HighC · 32% proficient
- Blair-taylor Middle/highC− · 30% proficient
- Lincoln Jr/sr High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Black River Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Black River Falls 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 Black River Falls against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Black River Falls
Is Black River Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Black River Falls ranks 27,849th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, walkability, and biking, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Black River Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $194,158. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $68,293 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is Black River Falls safe?
Black River Falls is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $478 per resident a year.
Compare Black River Falls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Black River Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Black River Falls 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.
Black River Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Black River Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Black River Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Black River Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Black River Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Black River Falls 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.