Best PlacesWashburn County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Washburn 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.
Washburn County ranks 1,447th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Washburn 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.
Washburn County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Washburn County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of counties
Where Washburn County ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 31% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Washburn County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Washburn County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,295, 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 Washburn County's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 Washburn County
Washburn 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 Washburn County.
Who works in Washburn County, and how
Work in Washburn County 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 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Washburn County
Washburn County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of counties and more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Washburn County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Washburn County growing, and who is moving in?
Washburn County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Burnett County, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Washburn County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Washburn County, month by month
Washburn County sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| July | 79° | 69° | 59° |
| October | 56° | 46° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Washburn County
The nearest airport, Chippewa Valley Regional, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Washburn County
Schools across Washburn County average a C, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)B · 48% proficient
- Birchwood ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Webster ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rice Lake MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Webster MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Northstar Community Charter SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwood High/middleC+ · 35% proficient
- Hayward HighC · 33% proficient
- Shell Lake Junior/senior HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Washburn County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Washburn 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 Washburn County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Washburn County
Is Washburn County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Washburn County ranks 1,447th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on empty homes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Washburn County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,285. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $64,295 median income, cost of living beats 32% of counties.
Is Washburn County safe?
Yes, Washburn County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $275 per resident a year.
Compare Washburn County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Washburn County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Washburn 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.
Washburn County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Washburn County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Washburn County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Washburn County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Washburn County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Washburn 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.