Village · Door County, Wisconsin

Sister Bay, Wisconsin

Sister Bay is a village in Door County, Wisconsin. It has 1,044 residents. Sister Bay, Wisconsin has a quality-of-life score of 94 out of 100 (very high), ranking #886 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wisconsin it ranks #95 of 396 cities and towns. It ranks best on restaurants and bars (high), natural hazard risk (low) and hot days (low). It ranks worst on distance to an Amtrak station (high), average weekly wage (low) and flu vaccinations (low).

94Very high

Quality-of-life score: #886 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wisconsin: #95 of 396 in WI
Population: 1,044 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 382.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 5574225

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.

Safety85#2,301/15,637
Economy46#8,392/15,631
Housing68#4,810/14,977
Health84#2,494/15,609
Healthcare68#5,026/15,650
Environment94#951/15,453
Education97#441/15,649
Infrastructure60#6,336/15,650
Community100#34/15,651
Leisure & amenities96#669/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Sister Bay, Wisconsin ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Door 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 · high35.6 /10k
100/100Wisconsin 12.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDoor County value
Natural hazard risk · low1.1
99/100Wisconsin 10.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyDoor County value
Hot days · low0 days
99/100Wisconsin 4 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationDoor County value
Voter turnout · high83.4%
99/100Wisconsin 76.3%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionDoor County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high14.7 /10k
98/100Wisconsin 4.8 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDoor County value
Grocery stores · high3.6 /10k
97/100Wisconsin 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDoor County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an Amtrak station · high133 mi
6/100Wisconsin 40 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDoor County value
Average weekly wage · low$924
8/100Wisconsin $1,272United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDoor County value
Flu vaccinations · low30.0%
8/100Wisconsin 50.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDoor County value
High ozone days · high9 days
8/100Wisconsin 4 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDoor County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.514
16/100Wisconsin 0.444United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Distance to an emergency room · high10.2 mi
16/100Wisconsin 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDoor County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
740 (2015-2019) → 1,044 (2020-2024)
+41%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
10.0% (2015-2019) → 84.4% (2020-2024)
+74 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
50.3% (2015-2019) → 69.0% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateWorsening
8.1% (2015-2019) → 24.7% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$41,364 (2015-2019) → $71,169 (2020-2024)
+72%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
74.9% (2015-2019) → 86.8% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Sister Bay, Wisconsin improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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

Household income+72%$41,364 → $71,169

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Sister Bay, Wisconsin between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.9 min2015-2019	12.8 min2020-2024	−1.1 min	Within the margin of error	61%
Bachelor's degree or higher	46.2%2015-2019	51.3%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Broadband subscriptions	74.9%2015-2019	86.8%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Effective property tax rate	1.07%2015-2019	1.00%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	29%
High school diploma or higher	98.7%2015-2019	99.0%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Home price to income ratio	6.4×2015-2019	5.5×2020-2024	−0.9×	Within the margin of error	97%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3862015-2019	0.5142020-2024	+0.128	Within the margin of error	2%
Median household income	$41,3642015-2019	$71,1692020-2024	+72%	Improved	95%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	30.2%2015-2019	40.5%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Rent-burdened households	50.3%2015-2019	69.0%2020-2024	+19 points	Within the margin of error	10%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	16.3%2015-2019	8.0%2020-2024	−8.4 points	Within the margin of error	94%

“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 Sister Bay, Wisconsin five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Sister Bay, 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, Sister Bay, Wisconsin itself moved −9.6 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

1,044 residents (±230)

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

575 households (±108)

Sister Bay, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Under $25k21%†120
$25k–50k16%†91
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

575 households (±108)

Sister Bay, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Own50%289
Rent50%†286

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

404 workers (±94)

Sister Bay, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Drive alone69%†277
Carpool2.7%†11
Public transit

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 Door County, the county holding most of Sister Bay's residents.

Door County has 1,292 employer establishments, 422 for every 10,000 residents (1.70× the US rate of 248; 1.73× Wisconsin's), with 10,683 paid employees at an average annual pay of $48,866. The Census Bureau also counts 3,258 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,292; 3,258 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 422; US 248 · Wisconsin 244
Paid employees: 10,683
Average annual pay: $48,866; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	137	44.8	2.44×More than typical	1,262	$41,307	12
Traveler accommodation	87	28.4	15.8×More than typical	670	$40,479	97
Full-service restaurants	85	27.8	3.62×More than typical	829	$49,165	8
Specialty trade contractors	73	23.9	1.54×More than typical	455	$63,233	301
Services to buildings and dwellings	63	20.6	3.06×More than typical	194	$58,593	286
Landscaping services	45	14.7	4.20×More than typical	137	$70,197	105
Lessors of real estate	44	14.4	1.17×About typical	167	$38,886	399
Ambulatory health care services	40	13.1	0.63×Fewer than typical	204	$60,034	107
Clothing and accessories stores	38	12.4	3.43×More than typical	130	$35,492	41
Construction of buildings	36	11.8	1.56×More than typical	189	$64,397	143
Religious organizations	35	11.4	2.06×More than typical	161	$25,236	—
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	33	10.8	4.06×More than typical	292	$38,818	28

Rank places for an industry Open Door County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 30,581 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: Sister Bay is mostly in Door County.

See federal money in Door 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.

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

House

Tony WiedR-WI-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.2%

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.

Door County99100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Door 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/5574225

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends