53017Richfield, Wisconsin

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 53017.

79out of 100
Area Score
Top 3% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 4% of 6,210 ZIP areas measured83
Growth3047th of 5,428 ZIP areas measured47
Housing affordabilityTop 19% of 6,685 ZIP areas measured96
Climate5507th of 6,789 ZIP areas measured61
Physical resilienceTop 1% of 6,709 ZIP areas measured97
Access5957th of 6,791 ZIP areas measured70
Economic stabilityTop 1% of 6,742 ZIP areas measured91
The quick read

53017 ranks in the top 4% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.1% and median household income of $153,917.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 10% of median household income and the median home is 3.4 times it.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 53017 in the top 1% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
5,458
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$153,917
Top 3% nationally
Density
316/sq mi
17.2 sq mi of land
Median age
37.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Richfield
Wisconsin
Metro area
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
Nearest major airport
MSN
55 mi · Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld
Median home value
$521,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.1% is lower than 95% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 74,674 employed residents.

56% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 91% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 97% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$18,434$153,917Top 3%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7,572$63,355Top 9%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate1.6%Bottom 7%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute26.0 minBottom 40%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher55.9%Top 9%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment74,674Top 41%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.9%Bottom 34%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.6%Top 17%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force77,058Top 41%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation72.9%Top 9%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$67,440Top 48%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$51,160Top 48%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 47%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate3.1%Bottom 5%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024160k125k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $153,917 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 — Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides30,090$37,020
Registered Nurses22,400$97,360
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand19,810$44,840
Retail Salespersons18,850$34,410
Fast Food and Counter Workers17,490$28,440
Cashiers15,050$30,400

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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Richfield, WI, the city containing this ZIP code.

There are 15.5 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
1
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
2019-20 school year
Reading proficiency
2019-20 school year
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Amy Belle ElementaryGermantown School District35615.558%39%

16.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Wisconsin’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 4% below the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $1,255 takes 10% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Cost of living
95.7

Prices here run about 4% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
9.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,255
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$521,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index95.7Bottom 34%of 6,0712023
Home price to income3.39Top 42%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate96.6%Top 8%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3051,918Top 43%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$207$1,255Top 33%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$38,515$521,700Top 12%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income9.8%Bottom 4%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2.6%Bottom 11%of 33,0282024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
47/ 100
Ranks 3047 of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
25
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.1
Bottom 42% nationally
Year over year
−7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Richfield, WI, the city containing this ZIP code.

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 17°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 34.6 inches, including 48.7 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MILWAUKEE MITCHELL AP, 24.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation34.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall48.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low17°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing49°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

97 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, hail and lightning.

HailModerate
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Washington County records 1.9 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 9.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 8.0 per 100,000 residents in Washington County.

Homicide
1.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
8.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
13.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Washington County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 53017 rather than 53017 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 55 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN55 mi9,006 ft
Wittman RgnlOSH56 mi8,002 ft
Appleton IntlATW74 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
79
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

53017 vs Richfield

How this ZIP area compares with Richfield as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

53017
Richfield
Median household income
$153,917
vs
$143,963
Per capita income
$63,355
vs
$66,712
Population density
316/sq mi
vs
327/sq mi
Median home value
$521,700
vs
$503,400
Median gross rent
$1,255
vs
$1,388
Homeownership rate
96.6%
vs
97.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher
55.9%
vs
52.3%
Poverty rate
1.6%
vs
4.8%
Median age
37.9
vs
47.8

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.