Best PlacesFrench Island, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around French Island, 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.
French Island ranks 18,872nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in French Island
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.
French Island's strengths and weaknesses
Where French Island ranks high
- Short commute15.9 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
Where French Island ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in French Island
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median French Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,393, 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 French Island's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 French Island
French Island 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 French Island.
Who works in French Island, and how
Work in French Island centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in French Island
French Island has more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of French Island and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in French Island, month by month
French Island sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of French Island
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around French Island
Schools across French Island average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Salem ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- State Road ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Spence ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Salem MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Lincoln MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Logan MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- West Salem HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Central HighC · 31% proficient
- Logan HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every French Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
French Island 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 French Island against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in French Island
Is French Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, French Island ranks 18,872nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, cheap car insurance, and few empty homes, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is French Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $251,227. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $75,393 median income, cost of living beats 60% of towns.
Is French Island safe?
French Island is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
Compare French Island with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to French Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in French Island 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.
French Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for French Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in French Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of French Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in French Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
French Island 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.