Best PlacesColfax, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Colfax, 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.
Colfax ranks 10,284th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Colfax
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.
Colfax's strengths and weaknesses
Where Colfax ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 78% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 77% of towns
Where Colfax ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 30% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 37% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 40% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Colfax
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Colfax home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,171, 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 Colfax'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 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 Colfax
Colfax's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Colfax.
Who works in Colfax, and how
Work in Colfax centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Colfax
Colfax has more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Colfax and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Colfax, month by month
Colfax sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 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 | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Colfax
The nearest airport, Chippewa Valley Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Colfax
Schools across Colfax average a C+, better than 51% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Chetek-weyerhaeuser Roselawn ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Mound View ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Oaklawn ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Elk Mound MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Chetek-weyerhaeuser MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Menomonie MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Menomonie HighB− · 43% proficient
- North HighC+ · 39% proficient
- Colfax HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Colfax school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Colfax 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 Colfax against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Colfax
Is Colfax a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Colfax ranks 10,284th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and health care access, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Colfax expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $256,625. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $88,171 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Colfax safe?
Yes, Colfax is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare Colfax with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Colfax. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Colfax 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.
Colfax detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Colfax: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Colfax: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Colfax: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Colfax: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Colfax 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.