Lake Holcombe Town Hall, 2015
Lake Holcombe’s story
Lake Holcombe in pictures
Census counts: 920 in 1990, 1,011 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 3 maps from 1951 on.
Explore the history →Lake HolcombeWI
A town of 1,010.
Population
1,010
2025 Census estimate · +0.3% since 2020
Median home value
$238K
Census ACS
Household income
$63K
median
Median age
59.1
years
Jobs based here
233
A commuter town
Is Lake Holcombe a good place to live?
Lake Holcombe’s best subject grades are a B+ for civic life and a B for cost of living; its weakest is a D for schools. The biggest park or preserve is Chippewa County Forest, at 356 acres. Lake Holcombe has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Small town
1,010 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Nearby towns
Birch CreekHolcombeEstellaClevelandRubyLake Holcombe
How Lake Holcombe grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Lake Holcombe is from typical.
SchoolsDOpen →Jobs & incomeDOpen →WalkabilityEPA walkability 5 of 20; 3.6% of households have no car; 0.7% of workers walk, bike or ride transitC−Open →HealthLess healthy than 80% of U.S. towns; Marshfield Medical Center - Ladysmith 15.3 miles awayC−Open →Hazard riskFEMA risk higher than 32% of U.S. communities; inland flooding tops the listBOpen →Cost of livingTypical home $238K, 3.2 years of the Eau Claire metro’s $75K median household incomeBOpen →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Outdoors0 miles of trails; 2% conserved landCOpen →HistoryCOpen →Civic life3.3 community nonprofits per 1,000 residentsB+Open →
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Getting set up
The full setup list →Moving to Lake Holcombe: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lake Holcombe, and how to reach them.
PowerChippewa Valley Electric CoopEIAHIFLD · EIA
Internet5 providers96% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & dumpNot on file yetWe don’t have Lake Holcombe’s trash rules yet
Register to voteOnlineIn 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).vote.govWho runs elections hereTown of Lake Holcombe ClerkThe town itself; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jun 2025
ZIP code5474554745 100%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Lake Holcombe.
SchoolsD
On state tests, Lake Holcombe’s schools trail 91% of Wisconsin districts
Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The public schools here belong to the Lake Holcombe School District. Also worth knowing: the 3 public schools in Lake Holcombe teach 244 students between them.
9%of WI districts it outscoresDSchool Grade
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holcombe ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 106 | C |
| Holcombe HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 86 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
HealthC−
More of Lake Holcombe’s adults report frequent physical distress than in the typical Wisconsin or U.S. town
80% of adults had a checkup this year in Lake Holcombe. Among 358 Wisconsin towns, just 8 have a higher share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Lake Holcombe. The town does better than the Wisconsin average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 13.
20%healthier than U.S. townsC−Health Grade
| Lake Holcombe | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 11% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 26% | 25% |
32 measures vs. Wisconsin
3 better16 too close to call13 worse
| What stands out | Lake Holcombe | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 16.1% | 19% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 83.1% | 77.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.2% | 6.5% |
Marshfield Medical Center - Ladysmith
15.3 mi away · emergency room
None
primary care, dental or mental-health shortage
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Work & commuteJobs & income grade D
Lake Holcombe has 0.7 jobs per working resident, so most workers leave town for work
The top destinations are Eau Claire (17%), Chippewa Falls (9%) and Bloomer (7%). 16% of Lake Holcombe residents live below the poverty line. Employers in Lake Holcombe added 119 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 233. The town’s median household income stands at $63,000, where Wisconsin’s towns sit at $87,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000.
2%work in town
| Lake Holcombe | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $87,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.7% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
In Lake Holcombe2%
Eau Claire17%
Chippewa Falls9%
Bloomer7%
Cornell5%
32 mi
median commute distance
233
jobs based in Lake Holcombe
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
C−
Walkability grade: more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade B
Lake Holcombe faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Of the losses FEMA expects in Lake Holcombe, 48% come from inland flooding and 29% from cold waves. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in just over two thirds of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Lake Holcombe once, in 2001.
32risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingCold wavesTornadoes
1
federal disasters paid out here
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Climate
Snowy winters and pleasant summers: that is Lake Holcombe’s year
In Lake Holcombe, the peak summer temperature is 80°F.
42″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter7–26°
Spring31–54°
Summer55–78°
Fall36–55°
Oct 2
typical first frost
May 5
typical last frost
+1.2°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
OutdoorsC
Lake Holcombe has set aside 1.7% of its land for conservation
Walkers can cover 0.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
1.7%conserved
1.7%
conserved · 335 of 19,337 acres
0.3 mi
of trails · 0 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chippewa County Forest | — | 356 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Lake Holcombe
18pages on Lake Holcombe
The big questions
Out and about
The story
Day to day
After high school
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Lake Holcombe; the nearest are
University of Wisconsin-Eau ClaireUniversity or college · Public · Eau Claire36.6 mi$9,642 in-state tuitionNorthwood Technical CollegeCommunity college · Public · Rice Lake36.6 mi$4,926 in-state tuition
About 2 of every 100 Lake Holcombe residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
A commuter town
98% of working residents leave Lake Holcombe for work
Where Lake Holcombe’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
233jobs based in Lake Holcombe
2%of working residents work in town
32 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
About Lake Holcombe
Town in Wisconsin, United States
Lake Holcombe is also a popular name for the Holcombe Flowage. Lake Holcombe is a town in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Its population was 1,011 at the 2020 census. The census-designated place of Holcombe is located in the town.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 31 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,056 ft
Questions about Lake Holcombe
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lake Holcombe, WI expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.