Best PlacesRiver Falls, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around River Falls, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
River Falls ranks 3,183rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 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.
River Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where River Falls ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
Where River Falls ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 26% of towns
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 30% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 40% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in River Falls
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median River Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $95,194; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 River Falls' effective rate of 1.34%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in River Falls
River Falls runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for River Falls.
Who works in River Falls, and how
Work in River Falls 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 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in River Falls
River Falls has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of River Falls and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in River Falls, month by month
River Falls sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of River Falls
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 29 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around River Falls
Schools across River Falls average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Greenwood ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Malone ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Westside ElementaryA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hudson MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Viking MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Prescott MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Hudson HighB · 46% proficient
- Prescott HighB− · 42% proficient
- River Falls HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every River Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
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 River Falls against the other 50,332 towns.
Who River Falls suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in River Falls
Is River Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, River Falls ranks 3,183rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, biking, and heat safety, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is River Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $370,199. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $95,194 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is River Falls safe?
Yes, River Falls is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $213 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in River Falls?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 11. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of towns.
Is River Falls good for families?
Schools beat 71% of towns, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $948 a month.
Compare River Falls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to River Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 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.
River Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for River Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in River Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of River Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in River Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
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.