City · Adams County, Wisconsin

Adams, Wisconsin

Adams is a city in Adams County, Wisconsin. It has 2,050 residents. Adams, Wisconsin has a quality-of-life score of 33 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,516 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wisconsin it ranks #395 of 396 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), restaurants and bars (high) and students per teacher (low). It ranks worst on dentists (low), grocery stores (low) and primary care physicians (low).

33Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,516 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wisconsin: #395 of 396 in WI
Population: 2,050 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 696.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 5500275

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety70#4,684/15,637
Economy16#13,186/15,631
Housing90#1,536/14,977
Health19#12,567/15,609
Healthcare16#13,126/15,650
Environment73#4,202/15,453
Education28#11,327/15,649
Infrastructure18#12,847/15,650
Community49#8,034/15,651
Leisure & amenities22#12,162/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Adams, Wisconsin ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Adams County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Time spent in the emergency room · low73 min
100/100Wisconsin 140 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAdams County value
Restaurants and bars · high15.2 /10k
95/100Wisconsin 12.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAdams County value
Students per teacher · low10.8×
95/100Wisconsin 13.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsAdams County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,823 /100k
89/100Wisconsin 2,596 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAdams County value
Property crime rate · low500 /100k
89/100Wisconsin 1,017 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationAdams County value
Rent as share of income · low26.1%
89/100Wisconsin 27.2%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Weaknesses

Dentists · low9 /100k
1/100Wisconsin 75 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAdams County value
Grocery stores · low0.5 /10k
1/100Wisconsin 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAdams County value
Primary care physicians · low9 /100k
1/100Wisconsin 82 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAdams County value
Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
1/100Wisconsin 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAdams County value
Reading scores · low2.53
2/100Wisconsin 3.00United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAdams County value
Flu vaccinations · low25.0%
3/100Wisconsin 50.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAdams County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Child poverty rateImproving
41.7% (2015-2019) → 7.2% (2020-2024)
−35 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
65.5% (2015-2019) → 78.1% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Unemployment rateImproving
15.7% (2015-2019) → 5.6% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$30,806 (2015-2019) → $43,364 (2020-2024)
+41%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
High school diploma or higherImproving
82.6% (2015-2019) → 90.1% (2020-2024)
+7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
9.6% (2015-2019) → 14.2% (2020-2024)
+4.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Adams, Wisconsin improved on 3 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Property tax−0.6 points1.76% → 1.17%
High school++7.5 points82.6% → 90.1%
Household income+41%$30,806 → $43,364

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Adams, Wisconsin between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.3 min2015-2019	26.4 min2020-2024	+3.1 min	Within the margin of error	19%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.6%2015-2019	14.2%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Broadband subscriptions	65.5%2015-2019	78.1%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Effective property tax rate	1.76%2015-2019	1.17%2020-2024	−0.6 points	Improved	94%
High school diploma or higher	82.6%2015-2019	90.1%2020-2024	+7.5 points	Improved	91%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	2.4×2020-2024	−0.4×	Within the margin of error	91%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4442015-2019	0.4182020-2024	−0.026	Within the margin of error	71%
Median household income	$30,8062015-2019	$43,3642020-2024	+41%	Improved	75%
Poverty rate	27.1%2015-2019	25.7%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	26.2%2015-2019	26.1%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Rent-burdened households	41.7%2015-2019	44.1%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.8%2015-2019	9.3%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	30%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Adams, Wisconsin five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Adams, Wisconsin in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Adams, Wisconsin itself moved +6.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,050 residents (±265)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

858 households (±115)

Adams, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Under $25k24%203
$25k–50k36%†312
$50k–75k13%†110

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

858 households (±115)

Adams, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Own48%415
Rent52%443

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

785 workers (±129)

Adams, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Drive alone86%674
Carpool6.4%†50
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Adams County, the county holding most of Adams's residents.

Adams County has 346 employer establishments, 159 for every 10,000 residents (0.64× the US rate of 248; 0.65× Wisconsin's), with 3,187 paid employees at an average annual pay of $40,568. The Census Bureau also counts 1,328 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 346; 1,328 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 159; US 248 · Wisconsin 244
Paid employees: 3,187
Average annual pay: $40,568; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Adams County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	35	16.1	1.04×About typical	114	$56,877	114
Restaurants and other eating places	32	14.7	0.80×About typical	369	$17,209	4
Full-service restaurants	24	11	1.44×More than typical	211	$19,071	—
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	20	9.2	7.59×More than typical	119	$18,084	9
Lessors of real estate	19	8.7	0.71×Fewer than typical	47	$35,234	150
Truck transportation	15	6.9	1.37×More than typical	60	$46,200	68
Ambulatory health care services	13	6	0.29×Fewer than typical	39	$41,667	21
Other specialty trade contractors	12	5.5	2.20×More than typical	40	$60,375	34
Automotive repair and maintenance	11	5.1	1.01×About typical	41	$40,878	26
Real estate agents and brokers	11	5.1	1.04×About typical	26	$36,692	45
Religious organizations	11	5.1	0.91×About typical	26	$16,500	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	11	5.1	0.75×Fewer than typical	39	$33,462	101

Rank places for an industry Open Adams County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 21,722 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Adams, Wisconsin: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

16.1FY2017
2.1KFY2018
28.8KFY2019
848.9FY2021
-5.4KFY2023

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Adams, Wisconsin, so they do not add up across cities.

Adams, Wisconsin's figures are part of those of Adams County, WI ($24.9M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Adams is mostly in Adams County.

See federal money in Adams County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Adams, Wisconsin is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Derrick Van OrdenR-WI-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 8.3%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Adams County43100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Adams County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/5500275

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends