City · Bayfield County, Wisconsin

Washburn, Wisconsin

Washburn is a city in Bayfield County, Wisconsin. It has 1,884 residents. Washburn, Wisconsin has a quality-of-life score of 91 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,392 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wisconsin it ranks #133 of 396 cities and towns. It ranks best on natural hazard risk (low), restaurants and bars (high) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on distance to an airport (high), distance to an Amtrak station (high) and pharmacies (low).

91Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,392 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wisconsin: #133 of 396 in WI
Population: 1,884 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 481.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 5583525

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety75#3,951/15,637
Economy58#6,616/15,631
Housing93#1,115/14,977
Health67#5,095/15,609
Healthcare31#10,795/15,650
Environment98#245/15,453
Education91#1,461/15,649
Infrastructure70#4,671/15,650
Community93#1,055/15,651
Leisure & amenities89#1,759/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Washburn, Wisconsin ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Bayfield 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 · low0.6
100/100Wisconsin 10.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyBayfield County value
Restaurants and bars · high30.4 /10k
100/100Wisconsin 12.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBayfield County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.0 µg/m³
99/100Wisconsin 7.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyBayfield County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,082 /100k
99/100Wisconsin 2,596 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBayfield County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Wisconsin 14.6 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBayfield County value
New homes permitted · high32.9 /1k
98/100Wisconsin 4.4 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data

Weaknesses

Distance to an airport · high157 mi
2/100Wisconsin 37 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBayfield County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high149 mi
5/100Wisconsin 40 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBayfield County value
Pharmacies · low0.6 /10k
5/100Wisconsin 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBayfield County value
Distance to an emergency room · high17.2 mi
5/100Wisconsin 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBayfield County value
Average weekly wage · low$894
5/100Wisconsin $1,272United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBayfield County value
Comfortable days · low22.6%
5/100Wisconsin 24.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBayfield County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
55.4% (2015-2019) → 46.6% (2020-2024)
−8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
80.4% (2015-2019) → 87.8% (2020-2024)
+7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
14.2% (2015-2019) → 7.6% (2020-2024)
−6.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$48,250 (2015-2019) → $62,128 (2020-2024)
+29%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
2.9% (2015-2019) → 7.5% (2020-2024)
+4.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Poverty rateImproving
11.2% (2015-2019) → 6.7% (2020-2024)
−4.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Washburn, Wisconsin improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 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.

Improved1

Household income+29%$48,250 → $62,128

Declined1

Uninsured+4.6 points2.9% → 7.5%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Washburn, Wisconsin between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.8 min2015-2019	14.4 min2020-2024	−2.3 min	Within the margin of error	74%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.8%2015-2019	36.5%2020-2024	−4.3 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Broadband subscriptions	80.4%2015-2019	87.8%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Effective property tax rate	1.73%2015-2019	1.37%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	80%
High school diploma or higher	96.5%2015-2019	95.2%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Home price to income ratio	3.0×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	−0.1×	Within the margin of error	82%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4262015-2019	0.4302020-2024	+0.004	Within the margin of error	47%
Median household income	$48,2502015-2019	$62,1282020-2024	+29%	Improved	53%
Poverty rate	11.2%2015-2019	6.7%2020-2024	−4.5 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Rent as share of income	31.1%2015-2019	28.4%2020-2024	−2.7 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Rent-burdened households	55.4%2015-2019	46.6%2020-2024	−8.9 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	2.9%2015-2019	7.5%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Declined	12%

“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 Washburn, Wisconsin five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Washburn, 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, Washburn, Wisconsin itself moved +4.2 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

1,884 residents (±222)

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

851 households (±99)

Washburn, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Under $25k15%†126
$25k–50k23%†194
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

851 households (±99)

Washburn, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Own69%589
Rent31%†262

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

862 workers (±153)

Washburn, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Drive alone65%561
Carpool7.3%†63
Public transit1.7%†15

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 Bayfield County, the county holding most of Washburn's residents.

Bayfield County has 469 employer establishments, 279 for every 10,000 residents (1.12× the US rate of 248; 1.14× Wisconsin's), with 2,612 paid employees at an average annual pay of $55,895. The Census Bureau also counts 1,602 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 469; 1,602 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 279; US 248 · Wisconsin 244
Paid employees: 2,612
Average annual pay: $55,895; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	48	28.6	1.56×More than typical	232	$26,198	7
Specialty trade contractors	43	25.6	1.65×More than typical	408	$137,767	177
Full-service restaurants	37	22	2.87×More than typical	200	$25,980	4
Construction of buildings	28	16.7	2.21×More than typical	78	$45,000	118
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	23	13.7	11.3×More than typical	92	$14,467	6
Traveler accommodation	23	13.7	7.59×More than typical	220	$38,105	21
Building equipment contractors	20	11.9	1.98×More than typical	83	$50,687	22
Truck transportation	18	10.7	2.12×More than typical	42	$70,476	20
Lessors of real estate	16	9.5	0.77×Fewer than typical	44	$29,250	129
Religious organizations	15	8.9	1.61×More than typical	35	$16,857	—
Ambulatory health care services	14	8.3	0.40×Fewer than typical	94	$56,436	62
Gasoline stations	14	8.3	2.57×More than typical	96	$22,677	—

Rank places for an industry Open Bayfield County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 16,792 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 $44.5K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Washburn, Wisconsin: $23.59 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $44.5K; +128% vs FY2025
Per resident: $23.59; US $1,994
Sole-source: 7.5%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

12.9KFY2017
20.4KFY2018
23.6KFY2019
24.6KFY2020
7.2KFY2021
7.4KFY2022
31.3KFY2023
32.7K

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$16.2K36%
Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) · 6231$12.4K28%
Support activities for forestry · 1153$7,13316%
Paint, coating, and adhesive manufacturing · 3255$3,3877.6%
Other professional, scientific, and technical services · 5419$2,8136.3%
Household and institutional furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing · 3371

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 Washburn, Wisconsin, so they do not add up across cities.

Washburn, Wisconsin's figures are part of those of Bayfield County, WI ($3M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.5% of that total.

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

See federal money in Bayfield 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.

Washburn, 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.

Bayfield County93100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Bayfield 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/5583525

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends