City · Waushara County, Wisconsin

Wautoma, Wisconsin

Wautoma is a city in Waushara County, Wisconsin. It has 1,817 residents. Wautoma, Wisconsin has a quality-of-life score of 56 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,923 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wisconsin it ranks #373 of 396 cities and towns. It ranks best on violent crime rate (low), public libraries (high) and homicide rate (low). It ranks worst on median household income (low), access to exercise opportunities (low) and pharmacies (low).

56Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,923 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wisconsin: #373 of 396 in WI
Population: 1,817 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 642.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 5584625

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.

Safety78#3,504/15,637
Economy6#14,696/15,631
Housing64#5,456/14,977
Health37#9,841/15,609
Healthcare33#10,453/15,650
Environment91#1,365/15,453
Education55#7,107/15,649
Infrastructure30#10,883/15,650
Community84#2,545/15,651
Leisure & amenities58#6,596/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Violent crime rate · low30 /100k
99/100Wisconsin 240 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationWaushara County value
Public libraries · high3.2 /10k
96/100Wisconsin 0.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesWaushara County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Wisconsin 4.3 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataWaushara County value
Social associations · high15.6 /10k
93/100Wisconsin 11.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWaushara County value
Loneliness · low31.5%
91/100Wisconsin 31.6%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Time spent in the emergency room · low116 min
90/100Wisconsin 140 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesWaushara County value

Weaknesses

Median household income · low$32,361
2/100Wisconsin $77,557United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Access to exercise opportunities · low30.9%
2/100Wisconsin 83.6%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWaushara County value
Pharmacies · low0.4 /10k
3/100Wisconsin 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWaushara County value
Average weekly wage · low$880
4/100Wisconsin $1,272United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWaushara County value
Broadband subscriptions · low75.5%
4/100Wisconsin 90.3%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
New business applications · low7.5 /1k
4/100Wisconsin 12.0 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauWaushara County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,209 (2015-2019) → 1,817 (2020-2024)
−18%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
1.0 /1k (2022) → 7.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+617%4 yearsUS 5.0 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.2× (2015-2019) → 4.1× (2020-2024)
+89%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
High school diploma or higherImproving
76.0% (2015-2019) → 88.8% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Poverty rateWorsening
18.3% (2015-2019) → 26.1% (2020-2024)
+7.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
69.3% (2015-2019) → 75.5% (2020-2024)
+6.2 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, Wautoma, Wisconsin improved on 2 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 9 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.

Improved2

Property tax−0.8 points2.30% → 1.47%
High school++13 points76.0% → 88.8%

Declined2

Price / income+1.9×2.2× → 4.1×
Inequality+0.0790.414 → 0.493

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Wautoma, Wisconsin between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.4 min2015-2019	21.6 min2020-2024	+0.2 min	Within the margin of error	45%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.0%2015-2019	11.6%2020-2024	−4.5 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Broadband subscriptions	69.3%2015-2019	75.5%2020-2024	+6.2 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Child poverty rate	23.1%2015-2019	22.0%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Effective property tax rate	2.30%2015-2019	1.47%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Improved	98%
High school diploma or higher	76.0%2015-2019	88.8%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	98%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	4.1×2020-2024	+1.9×	Declined	5%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4142015-2019	0.4932020-2024	+0.079	Declined	8%
Median household income	$36,8982015-2019	$32,3612020-2024	−12%	Within the margin of error	2%
Poverty rate	18.3%2015-2019	26.1%2020-2024	+7.8 points	Within the margin of error	7%
Rent as share of income	31.8%2015-2019	33.3%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Rent-burdened households	54.1%2015-2019	58.0%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	14.2%2015-2019	9.4%2020-2024	−4.8 points	Within the margin of error	86%

“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 Wautoma, Wisconsin five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Wautoma, 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, Wautoma, Wisconsin itself moved −9.4 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

1,817 residents (±237)

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

868 households (±121)

Wautoma, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Under $25k43%370
$25k–50k20%†175
$50k–75k14%†120

Homes

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

Owners and renters

868 households (±121)

Wautoma, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Own53%464
Rent47%404

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

700 workers (±131)

Wautoma, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Drive alone78%547
Carpool4.9%†34
Public transit1.0%†7

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 Waushara County, the county holding most of Wautoma's residents.

Waushara County has 494 employer establishments, 197 for every 10,000 residents (0.79× the US rate of 248; 0.81× Wisconsin's), with 4,855 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,811. The Census Bureau also counts 1,718 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 494; 1,718 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 197; US 248 · Wisconsin 244
Paid employees: 4,855
Average annual pay: $45,811; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	42	16.8	1.08×About typical	158	$53,658	172
Restaurants and other eating places	37	14.8	0.80×About typical	401	$16,753	11
Religious organizations	36	14.4	2.59×More than typical	173	$20,173	—
Full-service restaurants	26	10.4	1.35×More than typical	266	$16,876	5
Truck transportation	24	9.6	1.90×More than typical	155	$56,026	81
Ambulatory health care services	17	6.8	0.33×Fewer than typical	211	$58,962	43
Automotive repair and maintenance	15	6	1.19×About typical	46	$41,326	49
Building equipment contractors	15	6	1.00×About typical	50	$51,320	20
Gasoline stations	15	6	1.85×More than typical	194	$28,680	—
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	14	5.6	4.61×More than typical	54	$22,981	10
Services to buildings and dwellings	14	5.6	0.83×About typical	36	$36,833	108
Construction of buildings	13	5.2	0.69×Fewer than typical	28	$34,786	139

Rank places for an industry Open Waushara County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 25,045 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: Wautoma is mostly in Waushara County.

See federal money in Waushara 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.

Wautoma, 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.

Waushara County71100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Waushara 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/5584625

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends