Village · Sheboygan County, Wisconsin

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

Elkhart Lake is a village in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, part of the Sheboygan, WI metro area. It has 1,092 residents. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin has a quality-of-life score of 90 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,577 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wisconsin it ranks #136 of 396 cities and towns. It ranks best on natural hazard risk (low), loneliness (low) and lack of reliable transportation (low). It ranks worst on high ozone days (high), unemployment rate (high) and days with unhealthy air (high).

90Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,577 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wisconsin: #136 of 396 in WI
Population: 1,092 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 782.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 5523275

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety68#5,062/15,637
Economy56#6,888/15,631
Housing90#1,478/14,977
Health76#3,791/15,609
Healthcare82#2,790/15,650
Environment65#5,459/15,453
Education74#4,024/15,649
Infrastructure77#3,526/15,650
Community99#143/15,651
Leisure & amenities60#6,300/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Sheboygan 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

Natural hazard risk · low2.1
97/100Wisconsin 10.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencySheboygan County value
Loneliness · low30.3%
95/100Wisconsin 31.6%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Lack of reliable transportation · low4.9%
95/100Wisconsin 7.2%United States 8.3%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Flu vaccinations · high55.0%
93/100Wisconsin 50.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSheboygan County value
Food insecurity · low7.8%
93/100Wisconsin 12.8%United States 15.6%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Food environment index · high9.2
92/100Wisconsin 8.8United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSheboygan County value

Weaknesses

High ozone days · high13 days
4/100Wisconsin 4 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySheboygan County value
Unemployment rate · high9.9%
10/100Wisconsin 3.2%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Days with unhealthy air · high3.5%
11/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySheboygan County value
New business applications · low9.3 /1k
18/100Wisconsin 12.0 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauSheboygan County value
Public EV charging ports · low2.6 /10k
26/100Wisconsin 4.1 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergySheboygan County value
Public transit commuters · low0.0%
27/100Wisconsin 1.1%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.1% (2015-2019) → 93.2% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$58,750 (2015-2019) → $94,250 (2020-2024)
+60%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
39.6% (2015-2019) → 50.5% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Child poverty rateImproving
10.0% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateWorsening
1.3% (2015-2019) → 9.9% (2020-2024)
+8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
42.4% (2015-2019) → 35.7% (2020-2024)
−6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin improved on 3 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 7 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

Household income+60%$58,750 → $94,250
Bachelor's++11 points39.6% → 50.5%
Broadband+15 points78.1% → 93.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.9 min2015-2019	19.2 min2020-2024	+0.4 min	Within the margin of error	43%
Bachelor's degree or higher	39.6%2015-2019	50.5%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	92%
Broadband subscriptions	78.1%2015-2019	93.2%2020-2024	+15 points	Improved	80%
Effective property tax rate	1.45%2015-2019	1.04%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	85%
High school diploma or higher	97.8%2015-2019	98.5%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Home price to income ratio	3.1×2015-2019	3.5×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	56%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4192015-2019	0.4472020-2024	+0.028	Within the margin of error	28%
Median household income	$58,7502015-2019	$94,2502020-2024	+60%	Improved	91%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	26.4%2015-2019	27.1%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	49%

“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 Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Elkhart Lake, 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, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin itself moved +5 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

1,092 residents (±233)

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

547 households (±97)

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Under $25k10%†56
$25k–50k19%†102
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

547 households (±97)

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Own76%417
Rent24%†130

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

401 workers (±98)

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Drive alone81%325
Carpool2.0%†8
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Sheboygan, WI

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 Sheboygan County, the county holding most of Elkhart Lake's residents.

Sheboygan County has 2,671 employer establishments, 227 for every 10,000 residents (0.91× the US rate of 248; 0.93× Wisconsin's), with 53,030 paid employees at an average annual pay of $56,560. The Census Bureau also counts 6,623 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,671; 6,623 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 227; US 248 · Wisconsin 244
Paid employees: 53,030
Average annual pay: $56,560; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	207	17.6	0.84×About typical	2,851	$66,239	212
Restaurants and other eating places	200	17	0.92×About typical	3,178	$19,024	31
Specialty trade contractors	195	16.5	1.07×About typical	1,695	$71,241	446
Religious organizations	114	9.7	1.74×More than typical	907	$24,847	—
Full-service restaurants	96	8.1	1.06×About typical	1,461	$20,374	18
Services to buildings and dwellings	93	7.9	1.17×About typical	617	$36,862	389
Limited-service restaurants	79	6.7	0.84×About typical	1,517	$17,755	9
Building equipment contractors	74	6.3	1.04×About typical	817	$77,944	54
Offices of physicians	67	5.7	0.88×About typical	1,377	$84,542	21
Truck transportation	65	5.5	1.09×About typical	820	$60,434	91
Automotive repair and maintenance	62	5.3	1.04×About typical	282	$45,443	86
Offices of other health practitioners	62	5.3	0.87×About typical	370	$41,092	125

Rank places for an industry Open Sheboygan County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 117,891 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 Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: $0 per resident (US $2,007).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $2,007
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.7%

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

62.2FY2019
0FY2020

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 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 Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, so they do not add up across cities.

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's figures are part of those of Sheboygan County, WI ($60.3M 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: Elkhart Lake is mostly in Sheboygan County.

See federal money in Sheboygan 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.

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

House

Glenn GrothmanR-WI-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 2.1%

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.

Sheboygan County92100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Sheboygan, WI92

Other cities and towns in Sheboygan 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/5523275

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends