City · Sawyer County, Wisconsin

Hayward, Wisconsin

Hayward is a city in Sawyer County, Wisconsin. It has 2,555 residents. Hayward, Wisconsin has a quality-of-life score of 59 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,422 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wisconsin it ranks #360 of 396 cities and towns. It ranks best on restaurants and bars (high), mammography screening (high) and preventable hospital stays (low). It ranks worst on grocery stores (low), injury deaths (high) and distance to an airport (high).

59Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,422 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wisconsin: #360 of 396 in WI
Population: 2,555 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 680.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 5533450

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety56#6,805/15,637
Economy13#13,543/15,631
Housing83#2,554/14,977
Health27#11,388/15,609
Healthcare43#8,885/15,650
Environment97#522/15,453
Education71#4,588/15,649
Infrastructure26#11,574/15,650
Community68#4,946/15,651
Leisure & amenities73#4,160/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Restaurants and bars · high30.3 /10k
99/100Wisconsin 12.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSawyer County value
Mammography screening · high60.0%
98/100Wisconsin 53.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSawyer County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,340 /100k
98/100Wisconsin 2,596 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSawyer County value
Average commute time · low12.3 min
98/100Wisconsin 22.2 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.7 µg/m³
98/100Wisconsin 7.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySawyer County value
Rent-burdened households · low33.8%
97/100Wisconsin 43.7%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Grocery stores · low0.5 /10k
2/100Wisconsin 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSawyer County value
Injury deaths · high144 /100k
4/100Wisconsin 101 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSawyer County value
Distance to an airport · high117 mi
6/100Wisconsin 37 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSawyer County value
Traffic deaths · high29.3 /100k
8/100Wisconsin 10.2 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataSawyer County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high108 mi
9/100Wisconsin 40 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSawyer County value
Flu vaccinations · low31.0%
10/100Wisconsin 50.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSawyer County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,780 (2015-2019) → 2,555 (2020-2024)
−8.1%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
1.2 /1k (2021) → 2.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+94%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.0% (2015-2019) → 86.9% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
19.9% (2015-2019) → 35.5% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
43.8% (2015-2019) → 33.8% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Public transit commutersWorsening
7.3% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−7.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%

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, Hayward, Wisconsin improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 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.

Improved1

Broadband+17 points70.0% → 86.9%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Hayward, Wisconsin between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.1 min2015-2019	12.3 min2020-2024	−0.8 min	Within the margin of error	57%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.6%2015-2019	21.2%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Broadband subscriptions	70.0%2015-2019	86.9%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	85%
Child poverty rate	19.9%2015-2019	35.5%2020-2024	+16 points	Within the margin of error	7%
Effective property tax rate	1.37%2015-2019	1.08%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	74%
High school diploma or higher	89.0%2015-2019	90.5%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Home price to income ratio	3.3×2015-2019	4.0×2020-2024	+0.7×	Within the margin of error	35%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4422015-2019	0.4512020-2024	+0.009	Within the margin of error	43%
Median household income	$37,6702015-2019	$45,6652020-2024	+21%	Within the margin of error	35%
Poverty rate	22.0%2015-2019	22.1%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	43%
Rent as share of income	28.3%2015-2019	25.8%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Rent-burdened households	43.8%2015-2019	33.8%2020-2024	−10 points	Within the margin of error	82%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.4%2015-2019	11.4%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	14%

“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 Hayward, Wisconsin five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Hayward, 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, Hayward, Wisconsin itself moved +4 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

2,555 residents (±21)

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

1,271 households (±146)

Hayward, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Under $25k31%393
$25k–50k23%†289
$50k–75k13%†169

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,271 households (±146)

Hayward, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Own56%712
Rent44%559

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+9.2 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,154 workers (±153)

Hayward, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Drive alone82%947
Carpool4.0%†46
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 Sawyer County, the county holding most of Hayward's residents.

Sawyer County has 627 employer establishments, 337 for every 10,000 residents (1.36× the US rate of 248; 1.38× Wisconsin's), with 5,363 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,163. The Census Bureau also counts 1,653 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 627; 1,653 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 337; US 248 · Wisconsin 244
Paid employees: 5,363
Average annual pay: $49,163; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	59	31.7	1.73×More than typical	439	$25,244	15
Specialty trade contractors	49	26.4	1.70×More than typical	149	$51,188	171
Full-service restaurants	47	25.3	3.29×More than typical	315	$25,679	10
Construction of buildings	37	19.9	2.63×More than typical	151	$51,126	119
Lessors of real estate	30	16.1	1.31×More than typical	50	$44,960	194
Ambulatory health care services	27	14.5	0.70×Fewer than typical	261	$58,567	52
Building equipment contractors	24	12.9	2.15×More than typical	71	$44,901	30
Traveler accommodation	20	10.8	5.96×More than typical	425	$39,179	42
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	18	9.7	7.99×More than typical	123	$25,813	12
Services to buildings and dwellings	16	8.6	1.28×More than typical	41	$49,439	142
Real estate agents and brokers	15	8.1	1.66×More than typical	21	$48,095	41
Landscaping services	13	7	2.00×More than typical	38	$51,395	57

Rank places for an industry Open Sawyer County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 18,587 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Sawyer 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.

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

House

Thomas P. TiffanyR-WI-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 10.4%

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.

Sawyer County73100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Sawyer 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/5533450

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends