Eau Claire County, WI

County Profile

107,116 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Eau Claire 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.

72out of 100
Area Score
Top 11% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 14% of 1,463 counties measured75
SchoolsTop 31% of 1,377 counties measured65
GrowthTop 49% of 1,453 counties measured51
Housing affordabilityTop 10% of 1,462 counties measured84
Climate1,375th of 1,463 counties measured53
Physical resilienceTop 19% of 1,463 counties measured81
AccessTop 13% of 1,463 counties measured96
Economic stabilityTop 9% of 1,463 counties measured89
The quick read

Eau Claire County ranks in the top 14% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $74,546.

In the public schools here, 45% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.5 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 671 units authorized over the past twelve months, 24% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

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
107,116
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$74,546
Top 27% nationally
Density
168/sq mi
637.9 sq mi of land
Median age
35.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Eau Claire County
Wisconsin
Metro area
Nearest major airport
EAU
14 mi · Chippewa Valley Rgnl
Median home value
$261,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

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

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 59,498 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 88% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$56,16443rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$61,41859th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,6632024 ACS 5-Year$74,546Top 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,5212024 ACS 5-Year$42,733Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$60,261Top 37%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.1%Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.2 minTop 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year36.8%Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year76.3%41st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202659,498Top 35%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.1%Top 49%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Top 26%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202661,43865th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year85.4%Top 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%87th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 33%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.2%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year12.7%79th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.61.8
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

202120222023202475k65k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $74,546 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.

45% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.5 students for every full-time teacher across 34 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
34
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
45.5%
Top 27% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
41.9%
Top 48% in Wisconsin
The 12 largest of 34 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
North HighEau Claire Area School District1,56717.031%28%
Memorial HighEau Claire Area School District1,55817.948%50%
DeLong MiddleEau Claire Area School District89312.437%38%
South MiddleEau Claire Area School District79713.545%42%
Altoona ElementaryAltoona School District55511.857%37%
Altoona HighAltoona School District55114.127%22%
Northstar MiddleEau Claire Area School District52911.539%37%
Robbins ElementaryEau Claire Area School District52212.763%60%
Sherman ElementaryEau Claire Area School District50213.951%45%
Eau Claire Community SitesEau Claire Area School District43525.6——
Putnam Heights ElementaryEau Claire Area School District42211.750%49%
Fall Creek ElementaryFall Creek School District41418.042%42%

37.3% 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 $3,514 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.35% 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 11% above the $1,064 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 $74,546.

The typical renter household here spends 25% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,064 a month.

A median home at $261,000 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $94,991, 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
24.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,181
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,064
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$261,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Eau Claire County’s median household income of $74,546, 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 ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.7Bottom 38%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year61.0%8th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±742024 ACS 5-Year46,93682nd percentileof 3,2222024 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 ±$352024 ACS 5-Year$1,064Bottom 25%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,6562024 ACS 5-Year$261,00074th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$702024 ACS 5-Year$3,51490th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,4842024 ACS 5-Year$94,991Top 18%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year1.35%84th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year24.8%Top 25%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1362024 ACS 5-Year61964th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%31st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.4%4th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3732024 ACS 5-Year2,21057th 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

51/ 100
Top 49% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 3% since 2020, reaching 108,830 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 720 units authorized in 2025, up 23% on the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 108,830 residents in 2024, up 0.7% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

62% of the 671 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Eau Claire County gained about 0.3% 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 $56,164, below the $61,418 of households that moved out.

At 6.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
671
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.3
Top 20% nationally
Year over year
−24%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
62.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024109k106k
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
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
35%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$56,164
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$61,418
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Chippewa County, WI 993 people · 20% of arrivals
  2. Dunn County, WI 354 people · 7.0% of arrivals
  3. Trempealeau County, WI 190 people · 3.8% of arrivals
  4. Barron County, WI 185 people · 3.7% of arrivals
  5. Hennepin County, MN 123 people · 2.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Chippewa County, WI 1,021 people · 21% of departures
  2. Dunn County, WI 395 people · 8.2% of departures
  3. Trempealeau County, WI 189 people · 3.9% of departures
  4. Hennepin County, MN 167 people · 3.5% of departures
  5. Dane County, WI 141 people · 2.9% 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

20222023202420251k583
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2022 (0%).

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

-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, 13.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year562024 calendar year
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
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals57°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
56
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

81 / 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 81% of measured US counties.

HailElevated
Strong windElevated
TornadoElevated
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate

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

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.

Eau Claire County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.6 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 12.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 13.0 per 100,000 residents in Eau Claire County.

Homicide
1.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
13.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.8
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 Eau Claire 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.
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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Chippewa Valley Rgnl at 14 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year90.1%Top 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle14 miTop 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year6.9%Top 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU14 mi8,101 ft
La Crosse RgnlLSE59 mi8,742 ft
Rochester IntlRST82 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
72
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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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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 September 26, 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 Eau Claire 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.