Oshkosh-Neenah, WI

Metro Area Profile

171,769 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Oshkosh-Neenah, WI metropolitan area.

76out of 100
Area Score
Top 10% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 24% of 379 published metros70
GrowthTop 28% of 821 published metros64
Housing affordabilityTop 29% of 822 published metros100
Climate685th of 822 published metros57
Physical resilienceTop 15% of 822 published metros80
AccessTop 7% of 822 published metros98
Economic stabilityTop 12% of 822 published metros82
The quick read

Oshkosh-Neenah ranks in the top 24% of published metro profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.3% and median household income of $74,925.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,013 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 39% on the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published metro profiles, placing Oshkosh-Neenah in the top 15% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
171,769
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$74,925
Top 27% nationally
Density
395/sq mi
434.7 sq mi of land
Median age
38.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI
Nearest major airport
OSH
9 mi · Wittman Rgnl
Median home value
$225,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.3% is lower than 87% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 88,924 employed residents.

31% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 70% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,498$74,925Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$793$40,938Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.3%Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute20.6 minBottom 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher31.1%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment88,924Bottom 40%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.4%Bottom 28%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.1%Top 29%June 2026
Labor force91,993Bottom 40%June 2026
Labor force participation65.8%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$64,790Top 29%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$54,060Top 15%2025 OEWS
Metro employment93,750Bottom 45%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 47%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.3%Bottom 13%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/063.91.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.3% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Largest occupations — Oshkosh-Neenah, WI
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,210$35,700
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand2,080$45,970
Registered Nurses2,050$87,340
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators2,040$57,260
Customer Service Representatives1,990$43,240
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,960$28,610

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $965 takes 15% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
15.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$965
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$225,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.01Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate65.8%Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7977,318Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$17$965Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,761$225,800Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income15.5%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.0%Bottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
64/ 100
Top 28% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 173,307 in 2024.

71% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 5.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
1,013
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.9
Top 21% nationally
Year over year
+39%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
71.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024173k171k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 11°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 30.6 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station OSHKOSH WITTMAN AP, 8.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation30.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low11°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing53°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

80 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and hail.

HailModerate
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, strong wind, winter weather, heat wave, ice storm, wildfire, earthquake, drought, landslide, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 9 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Wittman RgnlOSH9 mi8,002 ft
Appleton IntlATW14 mi8,003 ft
Green Bay/Austin Straubel IntlGRB38 mi8,700 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.