Marshfield, Wisconsin

Area Profile

18,700 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Marshfield, in Wood County.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 29% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 37% of 4,199 cities measured63
SchoolsTop 27% of 4,162 cities measured67
Growth2,654th of 4,224 cities measured44
Housing affordabilityTop 5% of 4,218 cities measured86
Climate4,114th of 4,225 cities measured54
Physical resilienceTop 27% of 4,226 cities measured78
Access3,922nd of 4,226 cities measured63
Economic stability2,521st of 4,226 cities measured53
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.6% and median household income $58,407, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Wood County, WI, which contains Marshfield, rather than for Marshfield alone.

In the public schools here, 47% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.6 students for every teacher.

26 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 10% 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
18,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,407
Bottom 37% nationally
Density
1,355/sq mi
13.8 sq mi of land
Median age
43.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Wisconsin
Nearest major airport
EAU
66 mi · Chippewa Valley Rgnl
Median home value
$177,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Wood County, WI, which contains Marshfield, is 3.6%, lower than in 77% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Wood County, WI, which contains Marshfield, grew 2.0% over the past year, to 34,726 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsWood County, WI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,50011th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftWood County, WI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$56,43317th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,1022024 ACS 5-Year$58,407Bottom 37%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,8232024 ACS 5-Year$40,778Top 31%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.5%Bottom 47%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year16.1 minTop 7%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year25.6%Top 38%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.6%38th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentWood County, WI’s figureJuly 202634,726Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Wood County, WI’s figureJuly 2026−1.5%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Wood County, WI’s figureJuly 2026+2.0%Top 8%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceWood County, WI’s figureJuly 202636,04038th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.8%Top 41%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%76th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Wood County, WI’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateWood County, WI’s figureJuly 20263.6%Top 23%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.1%65th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202459k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,407 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Wood County, WI, which contains this city.

47% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 52% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.6 students for every full-time teacher across 7 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
8
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.6
across 7 of them
Math proficiency
46.7%
Top 38% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
52.2%
Top 24% in Wisconsin
All 8 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Marshfield HighMarshfield Unified School District1,18115.538%51%
Grant ElementaryMarshfield Unified School District55415.461%60%
Marshfield MiddleMarshfield Unified School District53714.941%47%
Washington ElementaryMarshfield Unified School District31615.062%62%
Madison ElementaryMarshfield Unified School District29512.842%47%
Lincoln ElementaryMarshfield Unified School District28113.437%42%
Nasonville ElementaryMarshfield Unified School District23112.267%57%
Marshfield K4Marshfield Unified School District15852.7——

36.5% 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.

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 $2,998 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.69% 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 16% above the $842 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 67% of the median household income here of $58,407.

The typical renter household here spends 24% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $842 a month.

A median home at $177,800 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $73,125, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
24.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$973
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$842
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$177,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Marshfield’s median household income of $58,407, 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%77th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2+59.2%95th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2+110.3%77th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 48%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year60.0%20th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3552024 ACS 5-Year9,72294th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$742Top 3%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,220Top 4%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$973Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$732024 ACS 5-Year$842Top 34%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,3332024 ACS 5-Year$177,80048th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1952024 ACS 5-Year$2,99873rd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,4732024 ACS 5-Year$73,125Bottom 42%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.20%2024 ACS 5-Year1.69%85th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year24.2%Top 29%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±152024 ACS 5-Year963rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%52nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.6%48th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2662024 ACS 5-Year64792nd percentileof 32,3302024 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

44/ 100
Ranks 2,654 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 18,973 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 26 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Wood County, which contains Marshfield, gained about 0.4% 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 $52,500, below the $56,433 of households that moved out.

At 1.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
26
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.4
Bottom 32% nationally
Year over year
−10%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202419k19k
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.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
27%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$52,500
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$56,433
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Portage County, WI 455 people · 15% of arrivals
  2. Marathon County, WI 442 people · 14% of arrivals
  3. Clark County, WI 205 people · 6.7% of arrivals
  4. Adams County, WI 141 people · 4.6% of arrivals
  5. Dane County, WI 89 people · 2.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Portage County, WI 425 people · 15% of departures
  2. Marathon County, WI 405 people · 15% of departures
  3. Adams County, WI 134 people · 4.8% of departures
  4. Clark County, WI 130 people · 4.7% of departures
  5. Dane County, WI 106 people · 3.8% 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. This is the figure for Wood County, WI. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025256.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+127%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 80°F and January a low of 7°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 24.9 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MARSHFIELD MUNI AP, 1.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals24.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals7°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals80°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

78 / 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 49% 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 73% of measured US cities.

HailElevated
Inland floodingModerate
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, heat wave, ice storm, wildfire, 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. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
158
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
969
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Marshfield's police department reported 158 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 969.

Wood County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.2 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 21.6 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 8.7 per 100,000 residents in Wood County.

Homicide
2.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
21.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
8.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
25.7
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Marshfield’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Marshfield (Wood County) rather than Marshfield itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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 66 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year90.2%Top 48%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle66 miBottom 6%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.5%Bottom 49%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU66 mi8,101 ft
La Crosse RgnlLSE76 mi8,742 ft
Appleton IntlATW86 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
65
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Other cities in Wisconsin Rapids-Marshfield, WI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Wisconsin RapidsWood County18,72256Wisconsin Rapids vs Marshfield

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Marshfield side by side with a similar place.

Marshfield vs Van WertMarshfield vs Mitchell

Moving to Marshfield from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
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
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.

ZIP codes in Marshfield

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Marshfield with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
5444926,183$67,551$211,60066