Best PlacesRusk County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rusk County, 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.
Rusk County ranks 2,000th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rusk County
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.
Rusk County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rusk County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of counties
Where Rusk County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 16% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rusk County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rusk County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,672, 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 Rusk County's effective rate of 1.07%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rusk County
Rusk County 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 Rusk County.
Who works in Rusk County, and how
Work in Rusk County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Rusk County
Rusk County has more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Rusk County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rusk County growing, and who is moving in?
Rusk County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Barron County, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rusk County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rusk County, month by month
Rusk County sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 9° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Rusk County
The nearest airport, Chippewa Valley Regional, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rusk County
Schools across Rusk County average a C−, better than 27% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Chetek-weyerhaeuser Roselawn ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Birchwood ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Ladysmith ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chetek-weyerhaeuser MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Bruce MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Ladysmith MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Birchwood HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Chetek-weyerhaeuser HighD · 23% proficient
- Ladysmith HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rusk County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rusk County 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 Rusk County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Rusk County
Is Rusk County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rusk County ranks 2,000th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and health care access, and lowest on cell coverage and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rusk County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,173. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $60,672 median income, cost of living beats 33% of counties.
Is Rusk County safe?
Yes, Rusk County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $312 per resident a year.
Compare Rusk County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rusk County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rusk County 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.
Rusk County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rusk County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rusk County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rusk County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rusk County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rusk County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.