53963 — Waupun, Wisconsin

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 53963. Its median household income runs 18% above Waupun as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 27% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 20% of 3,116 ZIP areas measured69
Schools2,268th of 3,047 ZIP areas measured31
Growth2,738th of 3,124 ZIP areas measured28
Housing affordabilityTop 1% of 3,112 ZIP areas measured96
Climate2,879th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured57
Physical resilienceTop 3% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured95
Access1,972nd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured88
Economic stability2,402nd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured37
The quick read

53963 ranks in the top 20% of ZIP areas measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $77,631. The unemployment rate is published for Waupun, WI, which contains 53963, rather than for 53963 alone.

In the public schools here, 30% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.1 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 11 units authorized over the past twelve months, 81% below the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Waupun, WI, which contains 53963, rather than for 53963 alone.

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
13,952
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$77,631
Top 41% nationally
Density
155/sq mi
89.8 sq mi of land
Median age
39.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Waupun
Wisconsin
Metro area
Nearest major airport
OSH
26 mi · Wittman Rgnl
Median home value
$208,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Waupun, WI, which contains 53963, is 3.2%, lower than in 89% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Waupun, WI, which contains 53963, grew 3.4% over the past year, to 54,851 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$9,8022024 ACS 5-Year$77,631Top 41%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,0352024 ACS 5-Year$32,765Bottom 36%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year12.7%Bottom 39%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.4 minTop 14%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year16.5%Bottom 29%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year81.1%70th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentWaupun, WI’s figureJuly 202654,851Top 45%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Waupun, WI’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Bottom 47%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Waupun, WI’s figureJuly 2026+3.4%Top 2%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceWaupun, WI’s figureJuly 202656,67654th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year62.2%Bottom 12%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageFond du Lac, WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$62,420Bottom 33%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageFond du Lac, WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$50,340Top 45%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Waupun, WI’s figureJuly 20260.0%Bottom 44%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateWaupun, WI’s figureJuly 20263.2%Top 11%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.2%31st percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202478k65k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $77,631 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 — Fond du Lac, WI

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,350$28,180
Cashiers1,120$30,230
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators1,080$51,200
Retail Salespersons1,040$33,640
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers1,030$57,730
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand990$46,140

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

30% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 34% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.1 students for every full-time teacher across 3 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.1
across 3 of them
Math proficiency
30.3%
Bottom 21% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
33.6%
Bottom 29% in Wisconsin
All 5 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Waupun Area Junior/Senior High SchoolWaupun School District83215.422%27%
Rock River IntermediateWaupun School District58514.342%43%
Meadow View PrimaryWaupun School District32416.2——
DOC: Waupun Correctional InstitutionWisconsin Department of Corrections11.0——
DOC: John Burke Correctional CenterWisconsin Department of Corrections0———

37.9% 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 7% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 93.0, 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 Fond du Lac, WI Metro Area is up 63% over five years, and up 5.8% 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 $2,699 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.29% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,176, some 24% above the $950 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,176 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $47,000 a year, about 61% of the median household income here of $77,631.

The typical renter household here spends 20% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $950 a month.

A median home at $208,600 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $84,172, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
93.0

Prices here run about 7% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Fond du Lac, 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
19.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,176
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$950
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$208,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 53963’s median household income of $77,631, 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 Fond du Lac, WI Metro Area’s figure202393.0Top 27%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Fond du Lac, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+5.8%90th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Fond du Lac, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+62.6%97th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Fond du Lac, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+110.9%75th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.5Top 41%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year71.6%32nd percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3062024 ACS 5-Year4,71471st percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$946Top 23%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,522Top 25%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,176Top 25%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$722024 ACS 5-Year$950Top 43%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,3972024 ACS 5-Year$208,60047th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1582024 ACS 5-Year$2,69965th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,4582024 ACS 5-Year$84,172Top 48%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.12%2024 ACS 5-Year1.29%74th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year19.8%Top 14%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±892024 ACS 5-Year10576th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.2%61st percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.5%32nd percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1582024 ACS 5-Year31564th percentileof 33,7722024 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

28/ 100
Ranks 2,738 of 3,124 published ZIP 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.

At 1.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Waupun, WI, which contains 53963, rather than for 53963 alone.

Units permitted
11
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.0
Bottom 22% nationally
Year over year
−81%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
45.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Waupun, 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 11°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 28.4 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FOND DU LAC CO AP, 15.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year492024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals28.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals11°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals52°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
49
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

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

95 / 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 44% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 97% of measured US ZIP areas.

HailModerate
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, strong wind, heat wave, inland flooding, winter weather, landslide, wildfire, earthquake, ice storm, drought, 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. 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 offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
1.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
9.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
28.9
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 the county around 53963 (Fond du Lac County) rather than 53963 itself. 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. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Waupun carries the figure where its 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 Wittman Rgnl at 26 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year91.2%Top 41%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle26 miBottom 35%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 40%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year7.1%Top 46%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Wittman RgnlOSH26 mi8,002 ft
Appleton IntlATW44 mi8,003 ft
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN46 mi9,006 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
65
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

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)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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
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 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.

53963 vs Waupun

How this ZIP area compares with Waupun as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

53963
Waupun
Median household income: 53963 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$77,631
vs
$65,625
Per capita income: 53963 is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$32,765
vs
$30,280
Population density
155/sq mi
vs
2,393/sq mi
Median home value
$208,600
vs
$188,600
Median gross rent: 53963 is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$950
vs
$951
Homeownership rate
71.6%
vs
66.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 53963 is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
16.5%
vs
15.7%
Poverty rate: 53963 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
12.7%
vs
15.8%
Median age
39.3
vs
39.5

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.