Plover, Wisconsin

Area Profile

13,884 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Plover, in Portage County.

75out of 100
Area Score
Top 4% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 2% of 4,199 cities measured85
SchoolsTop 35% of 4,162 cities measured61
GrowthTop 5% of 4,224 cities measured80
Housing affordabilityTop 3% of 4,218 cities measured88
Climate4,054th of 4,225 cities measured54
Physical resilienceTop 29% of 4,226 cities measured76
Access3,659th of 4,226 cities measured72
Economic stabilityTop 40% of 4,226 cities measured63
The quick read

Plover ranks in the top 2% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $88,042. The unemployment rate is published for Portage County, WI, which contains Plover, rather than for Plover alone.

In the public schools here, 48% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.3 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 149 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 104% on 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
13,884
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$88,042
Top 26% nationally
Density
1,305/sq mi
10.6 sq mi of land
Median age
36.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Wisconsin
Nearest major airport
ATW
52 mi · Appleton Intl
Median home value
$269,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Portage County, WI, which contains Plover, is 3.2%, lower than in 89% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Portage County, WI, which contains Plover, grew 2.5% over the past year, to 37,012 employed residents.

42% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 83% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsPortage County, WI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$58,29623rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftPortage County, WI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$53,28212th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,7362024 ACS 5-Year$88,042Top 26%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,4432024 ACS 5-Year$42,077Top 28%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year8.6%Top 41%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.8 minTop 17%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year42.2%Top 17%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year78.1%53rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentPortage County, WI’s figureJuly 202637,012Bottom 40%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Portage County, WI’s figureJuly 2026+2.3%Top 17%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Portage County, WI’s figureJuly 2026+2.5%Top 4%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forcePortage County, WI’s figureJuly 202638,22540th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year79.1%Top 47%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%75th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Portage County, WI’s figureJuly 2026+0.1%Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment ratePortage County, WI’s figureJuly 20263.2%Top 11%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.2%65th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202488k71k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $88,042 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 Portage County, WI, which contains this city.

48% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher across 2 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
2
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
47.7%
Top 31% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
41.8%
Bottom 47% in Wisconsin
All 2 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Roosevelt ElementaryStevens Point Area Public School District52215.456%45%
Plover-Whiting ElementaryStevens Point Area Public School District44813.238%38%

41.2% 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 $4,157 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.54% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,037, close to the $1,089 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,037 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $41,500 a year, about 47% of the median household income here of $88,042.

The typical renter household here spends 23% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,089 a month.

A median home at $269,800 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $112,637, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
23.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,037
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,089
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$269,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Plover’s median household income of $88,042, 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 ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 47%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year58.9%19th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2442024 ACS 5-Year5,82090th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$794Top 7%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,243Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,037Top 10%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$402024 ACS 5-Year$1,089Bottom 40%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,2462024 ACS 5-Year$269,80068th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2382024 ACS 5-Year$4,15784th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$8,6952024 ACS 5-Year$112,637Top 19%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year1.54%80th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year23.1%Top 24%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1032024 ACS 5-Year11690th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.0%69th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%17th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1152024 ACS 5-Year16475th 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

80/ 100
Top 5% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 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 5% since 2020, reaching 14,208 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 14,208 residents in 2024, up 0.9% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

Federal tax returns show Portage County, which contains Plover, 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 $58,296, above the $53,282 of households that moved out.

At 10.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
149
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
10.7
Top 10% nationally
Year over year
+104%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
43.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202414k14k
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
29%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$58,296
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$53,282
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Wood County, WI 425 people · 15% of arrivals
  2. Marathon County, WI 291 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Waupaca County, WI 172 people · 6.1% of arrivals
  4. Dane County, WI 125 people · 4.4% of arrivals
  5. Waushara County, WI 80 people · 2.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Wood County, WI 455 people · 17% of departures
  2. Marathon County, WI 247 people · 9.3% of departures
  3. Waupaca County, WI 140 people · 5.3% of departures
  4. Dane County, WI 130 people · 4.9% of departures
  5. Milwaukee County, WI 76 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. This is the figure for Portage County, WI. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202517852
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+20%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 8°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 31.3 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WISCONSIN RAPIDS ALEXANDER FLD, 16.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals31.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals8°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°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

76 / 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 71% of measured US cities.

HailModerate
LightningModerate
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, landslide, 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). 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
118
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
911
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.

Plover's police department reported 118 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 911.

Portage County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.1 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 13.5 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 8.0 per 100,000 residents in Portage County.

Homicide
2.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
8.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
21.1
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 Plover’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 Plover (Portage County) rather than Plover 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

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Appleton Intl at 52 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year95.2%Top 24%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle52 miBottom 11%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 27%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%Top 28%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Appleton IntlATW52 mi8,003 ft
Wittman RgnlOSH59 mi8,002 ft
Green Bay/Austin Straubel IntlGRB69 mi8,700 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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Area Score
75
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Other cities in Stevens Point-Plover, WI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Stevens PointPortage County25,78565Stevens Point vs Plover

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 Plover side by side with a similar place.

Plover vs IndianolaPlover vs Villa Rica

Moving to Plover 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 Plover

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Plover with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Plover closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
5446714,870$87,580$268,600—