Chippewa County, WI

County Profile

66,799 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Chippewa County, WI.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

67out of 100
Area Score
Top 23% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured73
Schools745th of 1,377 counties measured47
Growth948th of 1,453 counties measured42
Housing affordabilityTop 22% of 1,462 counties measured80
Climate1,375th of 1,463 counties measured53
Physical resilienceTop 16% of 1,463 counties measured83
AccessTop 22% of 1,463 counties measured92
Economic stabilityTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured77
The quick read

Chippewa County ranks in the top 17% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $74,680.

In the public schools here, 43% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.0 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 235 units authorized over the past twelve months, 33% below the prior year.

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
66,799
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$74,680
Top 27% nationally
Density
66/sq mi
1,008.4 sq mi of land
Median age
42.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Chippewa County
Wisconsin
Metro area
Nearest major airport
EAU
17 mi · Chippewa Valley Rgnl
Median home value
$257,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2%, lower than in 84% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.9% over the past year, to 33,826 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$63,41461st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$52,98534th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,9732024 ACS 5-Year$74,680Top 27%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,2862024 ACS 5-Year$38,156Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$57,457Top 45%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.9%Top 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.9 minTop 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year24.2%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.7%37th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202633,826Top 50%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.5%Top 44%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.9%Top 21%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202634,95649th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year78.8%Top 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%59th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.3%Bottom 22%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.2%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%74th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.32.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, 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.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202475k63k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $74,680 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Eau Claire, WI

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,890$34,340
Retail Salespersons2,650$34,000
Registered Nurses2,420$93,410
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,370$28,070
Cashiers2,190$31,440
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand2,160$45,320

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

43% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 40% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.0 students for every full-time teacher across 24 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
28
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.0
across 24 of them
Math proficiency
42.8%
Top 48% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
40.4%
Bottom 33% in Wisconsin
The 12 largest of 28 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Chippewa Falls HighChippewa Falls Area Unified School District1,45116.328%39%
Chippewa Falls MiddleChippewa Falls Area Unified School District99914.139%45%
Bloomer ElementaryBloomer School District52113.447%47%
Stanley ElementaryStanley-Boyd Area School District43712.959%43%
Cadott ElementaryCadott Community School District43612.143%38%
Bloomer HighBloomer School District40014.827%32%
Parkview ElementaryChippewa Falls Area Unified School District37712.652%27%
Halmstad ElementaryChippewa Falls Area Unified School District35512.768%53%
Bloomer MiddleBloomer School District35014.035%36%
Hillcrest ElementaryChippewa Falls Area Unified School District34413.855%43%
Stanley-Boyd HighStanley-Boyd Area School District34113.625%25%
Stillson ElementaryChippewa Falls Area Unified School District33815.472%57%

37.5% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.5, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area is up 47% over five years, and up 2.3% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,798 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.08% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,181, some 23% above the $963 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,181 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $47,200 a year, about 63% of the median household income here of $74,680.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $963 a month.

A median home at $257,900 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $88,864, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.5

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
26.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,181
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$963
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$257,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Chippewa County’s median household income of $74,680, 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
Cost of living indexthe Eau Claire, WI Metro Area’s figure202391.5Top 31%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.3%25th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+46.8%61st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+104.4%69th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 32%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year74.2%48th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1472024 ACS 5-Year29,36673rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$962Top 50%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,582Bottom 47%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,181Top 50%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$362024 ACS 5-Year$963Bottom 35%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,0112024 ACS 5-Year$257,90074th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$772024 ACS 5-Year$2,79882nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,8542024 ACS 5-Year$88,864Top 26%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year1.08%71st percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.7%Top 39%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1342024 ACS 5-Year1,23878th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.2%61st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.4%4th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2552024 ACS 5-Year2,22758th percentileof 3,2222024 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

42/ 100
Ranks 948 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 67,323 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 218 units authorized in 2025, 41% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 235 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 17% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Chippewa County gained about 0.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $63,414, above the $52,985 of households that moved out.

At 3.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
235
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.5
Top 41% nationally
Year over year
−33%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
17.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202467k66k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
24%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$63,414
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,985
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Eau Claire County, WI 1,021 people · 36% of arrivals
  2. Dunn County, WI 211 people · 7.4% of arrivals
  3. Barron County, WI 153 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  4. Clark County, WI 123 people · 4.3% of arrivals
  5. Rusk County, WI 74 people · 2.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Eau Claire County, WI 993 people · 36% of departures
  2. Dunn County, WI 192 people · 7.0% of departures
  3. Barron County, WI 142 people · 5.2% of departures
  4. Clark County, WI 92 people · 3.4% of departures
  5. Rusk County, WI 85 people · 3.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025368218
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−25%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 6°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.0 inches, including 55.4 inches of snow.

-10°10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station EAU CLAIRE RGNL AP, 17.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals33.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals55.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals6°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals83°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals57°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

83 / 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 52% 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 84% of measured US counties.

Strong windModerate
HailModerate
Inland floodingModerate
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Chippewa County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.9 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 8.4 per 100,000 residents in Chippewa County.

Homicide
1.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
8.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
20.9
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Chippewa County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Chippewa Valley Rgnl at 17 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year89.3%Top 31%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle17 miTop 21%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.1%Top 41%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU17 mi8,101 ft
La Crosse RgnlLSE82 mi8,742 ft
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP96 mi11,006 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
67
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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)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
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
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
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.

Cities in Chippewa County, WI