Menasha, Wisconsin
Area Profile
18,273 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Menasha, in Calumet County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 15 sourcesMenasha ranks in the top 18% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.8% and median household income of $64,698. The unemployment rate is published for Calumet County, WI, which contains Menasha, rather than for Menasha alone.
In the public schools here, 51% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.2 students for every teacher. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Calumet County, WI, which contains Menasha, rather than for Menasha alone.
Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 152 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, against 26 the year before.
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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment across Calumet County, WI, which contains Menasha, is 2.8%, lower than in 96% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment across Calumet County, WI, which contains Menasha, grew 1.4% over the past year, to 29,490 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsCalumet County, WI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $66,577 | 40th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftCalumet County, WI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $85,555 | 71st percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$7,2092024 ACS 5-Year | $64,698 | Bottom 47%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,0952024 ACS 5-Year | $36,055 | Top 43%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 10.4% | Top 49%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±1.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 22.1 min | Top 26%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 25.8% | Top 38%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 75.1% | 43rd percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentCalumet County, WI’s figureJuly 2026 | 29,490 | Bottom 35%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)Calumet County, WI’s figureJuly 2026 | 0.0% | Top 45%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)Calumet County, WI’s figureJuly 2026 | +1.4% | Top 12%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceCalumet County, WI’s figureJuly 2026 | 30,351 | 34th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 84.6% | Top 26%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wageAppleton, WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $62,240 | Bottom 23%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wageAppleton, WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $49,910 | Bottom 39%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.8% | 82nd percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)Calumet County, WI’s figureJuly 2026 | +0.1% | Bottom 41%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateCalumet County, WI’s figureJuly 2026 | 2.8% | Top 4%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 12.7% | 70th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Appleton, WI
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Retail Salespersons | 3,610 | $34,540 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 3,150 | $29,010 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 2,820 | $37,010 |
| Cashiers | 2,750 | $31,610 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 2,610 | $43,610 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 2,540 | $45,760 |
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.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Calumet County, WI, which contains this city.
51% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Calumet County, WI, which contains Menasha, rather than for Menasha alone.
There are 13.2 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places. The student-teacher ratio is published for Calumet County, WI, which contains Menasha, rather than for Menasha alone.
The proficiency and staffing figures above are for Calumet County, WI: too few schools in Menasha reported a usable figure on their own to weight one honestly.
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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run about 6% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 93.7, 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 Appleton, WI Metro Area is up 57% over five years, and up 5.1% 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 $3,621 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.89% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,236, some 37% above the $903 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,236 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $49,400 a year, about 76% of the median household income here of $64,698.
The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $903 a month.
A median home at $191,800 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $88,872, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
Prices here run about 6% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Appleton, 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.
The figures above are measured against Menasha’s median household income of $64,698, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Appleton, WI Metro Area’s figure2023 | 93.7 | Top 21%of 3,700 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Appleton, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +5.1% | 79th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Appleton, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +56.8% | 92nd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Appleton, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +114.4% | 81st percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year | 2.2 | Top 38%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 64.3% | 27th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±3322024 ACS 5-Year | 8,518 | 93rd percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $960 | Top 19%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,701 | Top 29%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $1,236 | Top 23%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$582024 ACS 5-Year | $903 | Top 42%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$8,1492024 ACS 5-Year | $191,800 | 51st percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1502024 ACS 5-Year | $3,621 | 80th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$8,5732024 ACS 5-Year | $88,872 | Top 37%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.89% | 90th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 28.7% | Bottom 48%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±632024 ACS 5-Year | 86 | 88th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.0% | 62nd percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 3.6% | 31st percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±1502024 ACS 5-Year | 395 | 87th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 18,433 in 2024.
Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 31 units authorized in 2025, against 19 the year before.
79% of the 152 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 Calumet County, which contains Menasha, 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 $66,577, below the $85,555 of households that moved out.
At 8.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Outagamie County, WI 930 people · 32% of arrivals
- Winnebago County, WI 494 people · 17% of arrivals
- Brown County, WI 221 people · 7.6% of arrivals
- Manitowoc County, WI 196 people · 6.7% of arrivals
- Fond du Lac County, WI 95 people · 3.2% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Outagamie County, WI 929 people · 34% of departures
- Winnebago County, WI 485 people · 18% of departures
- Manitowoc County, WI 184 people · 6.7% of departures
- Brown County, WI 172 people · 6.3% of departures
- Sheboygan County, WI 89 people · 3.2% 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 Calumet County, WI. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 11°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 30.6 inches.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 30.6" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 11°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 81°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 53°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
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 44% of it. Inland flooding 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 94% of measured US cities.
Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, heat wave, inland flooding, winter weather, ice storm, landslide, earthquake, wildfire, hurricane, drought, 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.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Menasha's police department reported 141 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 444.
Calumet County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.0 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 10.6 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 7.8 per 100,000 residents in Calumet County.
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 Menasha’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 Menasha (Calumet County) rather than Menasha 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.
- 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
4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Appleton Intl at 6 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 90.5% | Top 47%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 6 mi | Top 10%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 4 | Bottom 38%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 6.9% | Top 47%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appleton Intl | ATW | 6 mi | 8,003 ft |
| Wittman Rgnl | OSH | 17 mi | 8,002 ft |
| Green Bay/Austin Straubel Intl | GRB | 24 mi | 8,700 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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Other cities in Appleton, WI
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appleton | Outagamie County | 75,023 | 68 | Appleton vs Menasha |
| Kaukauna | Outagamie County | 17,706 | 74 | Kaukauna vs Menasha |
| Harrison | Calumet County | 13,658 | 74 | Harrison vs Menasha |
| Greenville | Outagamie County | 12,987 | 77 | |
| Little Chute | Outagamie County | 11,754 | 77 |
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.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Menasha side by side with a similar place.
Moving to Menasha from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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.