Dunn County, WI

County Profile

45,527 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Dunn 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.

69out of 100
Area Score
Top 18% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 6% of 1,463 counties measured82
SchoolsTop 47% of 1,377 counties measured52
Growth915th of 1,453 counties measured43
Housing affordabilityTop 14% of 1,462 counties measured83
Climate1,375th of 1,463 counties measured53
Physical resilienceTop 27% of 1,463 counties measured75
AccessTop 24% of 1,463 counties measured91
Economic stabilityTop 19% of 1,463 counties measured81
The quick read

Dunn County ranks in the top 6% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $74,824.

In the public schools here, 44% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.9 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 102 units authorized over the past twelve months, 24% 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
45,527
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$74,824
Top 26% nationally
Density
54/sq mi
850.2 sq mi of land
Median age
36.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Dunn County
Wisconsin
Micro area
Nearest major airport
EAU
21 mi · Chippewa Valley Rgnl
Median home value
$243,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

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

Employment grew 2.6% over the past year, to 23,807 employed residents.

30% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$55,77642nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$54,22838th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,6702024 ACS 5-Year$74,824Top 26%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1602024 ACS 5-Year$37,499Top 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$51,437Bottom 30%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.7%Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.6 minTop 42%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year29.6%Top 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.2%41st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202623,807Bottom 38%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.8%Top 19%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.6%Top 8%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202624,58438th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year83.1%Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%51st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.2%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.1%63rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.52.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% 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.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202475k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $74,824 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.

44% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 40% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.9 students for every full-time teacher across 16 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
17
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.9
across 16 of them
Math proficiency
43.9%
Top 33% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
39.9%
Bottom 27% in Wisconsin
The 12 largest of 17 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Menomonie HighMenomonie Area School District96615.633%37%
Menomonie MiddleMenomonie Area School District73014.941%45%
Mound View ElementaryElk Mound Area School District45613.862%37%
River Heights ElementaryMenomonie Area School District40312.643%33%
Colfax ElementaryColfax School District39813.353%47%
Oaklawn ElementaryMenomonie Area School District38213.640%32%
Elk Mound MiddleElk Mound Area School District36814.753%48%
Wakanda ElementaryMenomonie Area School District35113.052%37%
Elk Mound HighElk Mound Area School District34813.442%47%
Tiffany Creek ElementaryBoyceville Community School District32714.255%47%
Colfax HighColfax School District31813.337%32%
Boyceville HighBoyceville Community School District21114.125%45%

38.4% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin is up 59% over five years, and up 4.9% 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 $3,380 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.39% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,024, close to the $985 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,024 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $41,000 a year, about 55% of the median household income here of $74,824.

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 $985 a month.

A median home at $243,200 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $93,087, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
25.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,024
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$985
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$243,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Dunn County’s median household income of $74,824, 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 change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2+4.9%73rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2+59.2%95th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2+110.3%77th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 44%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year67.0%20th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±882024 ACS 5-Year18,98363rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$787Top 23%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,363Top 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,024Top 30%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$492024 ACS 5-Year$985Bottom 33%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,7942024 ACS 5-Year$243,20071st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$682024 ACS 5-Year$3,38088th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,8572024 ACS 5-Year$93,087Top 20%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year1.39%85th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year25.6%Top 30%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±962024 ACS 5-Year33248th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.7%38th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.4%28th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2492024 ACS 5-Year1,54345th 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.

Development Momentum

43/ 100
Ranks 915 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 2% since 2020, reaching 46,135 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 99 units authorized in 2025, 34% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 102 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Dunn County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $55,776, close to the $54,228 of households that moved out.

At 2.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
102
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.2
Bottom 40% nationally
Year over year
−24%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202446k45k
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 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
29%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$55,776
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$54,228
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Eau Claire County, WI 395 people · 20% of arrivals
  2. Chippewa County, WI 192 people · 9.6% of arrivals
  3. St. Croix County, WI 176 people · 8.8% of arrivals
  4. Barron County, WI 86 people · 4.3% of arrivals
  5. Pierce County, WI 86 people · 4.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Eau Claire County, WI 354 people · 18% of departures
  2. Chippewa County, WI 211 people · 11% of departures
  3. St. Croix County, WI 142 people · 7.2% of departures
  4. Pierce County, WI 82 people · 4.2% of departures
  5. Barron County, WI 71 people · 3.6% 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

202220232024202515199
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−18%).

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, 20.8 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

75 / 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 43% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 73% of measured US counties.

Strong windElevated
HailElevated
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, cold wave, heat wave, inland flooding, winter weather, ice storm, drought, wildfire, 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.

Dunn County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.0 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 9.4 per 100,000 residents in Dunn County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
9.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
26.2
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 Dunn 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Chippewa Valley Rgnl at 21 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year89.9%Top 27%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle21 miTop 27%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year6.9%Top 23%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU21 mi8,101 ft
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP65 mi11,006 ft
Rochester IntlRST78 mi9,034 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
69
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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
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 Dunn County, WI

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.