Living in Birch, WI: what to set up and who to call
New voters sign up with the Town of Birch Clerk, which runs Birch’s elections. Aspirus Merrill Hospital, 11 miles away, is the nearest emergency room.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Birch, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Birch.
Power comes from Wisconsin Public Service
Wisconsin Public Service (Wisconsin Public Service Corp), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Birch. Its homes paid an average of 17.2¢ per kWh in 2025, about $106 a month (its average across Wisconsin).
Start or move service: wisconsinpublicservice.com · (800) 450-7260
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Lincoln Hills School water system
The Lincoln Hills School water system supplies Birch: about 6% of residents live in its service area. About 94% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws ground water and serves 316 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 77% of the 15,074 systems serving 101–500 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jun–Sep 2023, was 0.4 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. That’s lower than 56% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0 (EPA’s estimate). Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. WI7350121.
Which providers serve Birch
This card will list the home internet providers the FCC’s National Broadband Map shows in Birch, the share of addresses that can get 100/20 Mbps and the share with fiber, with the map’s “as of” date.
Source to come: FCC Broadband Data Collection.
We don’t have Birch’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Birch.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Birch is in Merrill Area School District.
Test scores and every school: see Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
Town hall and registering to vote
Who to call, and how to register.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Jun 2023; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Birch spans 2 ZIP codes
ZIP codes where Birch residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Birch | ZIP’s residents in Birch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 54442 | Irma, WI | 72% | 37% |
| 54435 | Gleason, WI | 28% | 8% |
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Birch
Who supplies Birch’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
The Lincoln Hills School water system (EPA ID WI7350121). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 77% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 0.4 ppb (Jun–Sep 2023), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Birch?
Wisconsin Public Service (Wisconsin Public Service Corp), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 17.2¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What ZIP codes are in Birch?
54442 (72%), 54435 (28%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Birch in?
Merrill Area School District.
How do I register to vote in Birch?
In Wisconsin you can register online until 20 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 20 days before). Elections here are run by the Town of Birch Clerk. Check your registration at myvote.wi.gov.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet (FCC): pending.