Wisconsin Rapids-Marshfield, WI

Micro Area Profile

74,004 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Wisconsin Rapids-Marshfield, WI micropolitan area.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 35% of 834 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 9 sources
OpportunityTop 30% of 835 metro and micro areas measured61
SchoolsTop 49% of 695 metro and micro areas measured51
Growth616th of 834 metro and micro areas measured36
Housing affordabilityTop 12% of 835 metro and micro areas measured82
Climate755th of 835 metro and micro areas measured54
Physical resilienceTop 20% of 835 metro and micro areas measured76
Access673rd of 835 metro and micro areas measured60
Economic stabilityTop 22% of 835 metro and micro areas measured74
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.6% and median household income $67,989, putting employment conditions in the middle range of metro and micro areas measured.

In the public schools here, 38% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.8 students for every teacher.

146 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 5% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
74,004
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,989
Top 46% nationally
Density
93/sq mi
793 sq mi of land
Median age
43.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
Area type
Micropolitan area
Wisconsin
Nearest major airport
LSE
73 mi · La Crosse Rgnl
Median home value
$175,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.6%, lower than in 73% of the 835 measured US metro and micro areas.

Employment grew 2.0% over the past year, to 34,726 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,3262024 ACS 5-Year$67,989Top 46%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,2772024 ACS 5-Year$37,943Top 37%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.6%Top 28%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.8 minTop 26%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year21.4%Bottom 33%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.4%51st percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202634,726Bottom 47%of 835July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.5%Bottom 33%of 835July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.0%Top 10%of 835July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202636,04047th percentileof 835July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year80.5%Top 24%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%27th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 25%of 835July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.6%Top 27%of 835July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.1%63rd percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.42.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.6% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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.

38% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 43% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.8 students for every full-time teacher across 29 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
30
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.8
across 29 of them
Math proficiency
38.1%
Bottom 23% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
42.7%
Top 23% in Wisconsin
The 12 largest of 30 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lincoln HighWisconsin Rapids School District1,33717.127%38%
Marshfield HighMarshfield Unified School District1,18115.538%51%
Wisconsin Rapids Area MiddleWisconsin Rapids School District94314.342%42%
Grant ElementaryMarshfield Unified School District55415.461%60%
Marshfield MiddleMarshfield Unified School District53714.941%47%
Auburndale ElementaryAuburndale School District42114.542%42%
Auburndale HighAuburndale School District40012.935%52%
Pittsville ElementaryPittsville School District35711.936%46%
Woodside ElementaryWisconsin Rapids School District35413.637%47%
Howe ElementaryWisconsin Rapids School District33611.632%32%
Alexander MiddleNekoosa School District32611.627%27%
Washington ElementaryWisconsin Rapids School District32212.947%47%

43.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Wisconsin’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,697 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.54% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $973, some 14% above the $856 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $973 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,900 a year, about 57% of the median household income here of $67,989.

The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $856 a month.

A median home at $175,600 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,024, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
25.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$973
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$856
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$175,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Wisconsin Rapids-Marshfield’s median household income of $67,989, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.2Top 24%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year72.6%68th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±702024 ACS 5-Year34,75549th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$742Top 14%of 818FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,220Top 15%of 818FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$973Top 21%of 818FY2026
Median gross rent ±$332024 ACS 5-Year$856Top 25%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,2522024 ACS 5-Year$175,60033rd percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$472024 ACS 5-Year$2,69771st percentileof 9332024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,1702024 ACS 5-Year$79,024Bottom 43%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year1.54%89th percentileof 9322024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year25.7%Top 13%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2092024 ACS 5-Year54735th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.6%44th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%25th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4142024 ACS 5-Year2,50227th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

36/ 100
Ranks 616 of 834 published metro profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 73,943 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 146 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metro and micro areas.

Units permitted
146
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 39% nationally
Year over year
−5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202474k74k
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. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 8°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 31.3 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WISCONSIN RAPIDS ALEXANDER FLD, 12.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals31.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals8°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals54°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

76 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 50% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 80% of measured US metro and micro areas.

HailElevated
TornadoElevated
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, heat wave, wildfire, ice storm, strong wind, landslide, earthquake, drought, hurricane, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

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

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Death-certificate rates
The CDC publishes these rates by county, so a metropolitan area carries none of its own. The county profiles inside it do.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index by county, and only where a monitor sits, so a metropolitan area carries none of its own. The county profiles inside it show it where one exists.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest La Crosse Rgnl at 73 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year89.8%Top 35%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle73 miBottom 16%of 835NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 15%of 835NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.1%Top 45%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
La Crosse RgnlLSE73 mi8,742 ft
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU76 mi8,101 ft
Appleton IntlATW76 mi8,003 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
61
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.