Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,506. 77% more nonprofits per person than the typical Wisconsin town.
Medford is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B− overall, 237th of 357 graded towns in Wisconsin, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $89K. Its lowest everyday mark is in health: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 63% of the country. A typical home there costs about $265K, 3.8 years of the county’s $69K median household income. On the outdoors, just 60 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns do worse. 28% of residents are under 18 in Medford, above both Wisconsin’s towns (21%) and U.S. towns (22%). Medford's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 83% of U.S. towns.
Where Medford beats most towns.
Where Medford’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Medford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 504 in 1880, 4,349 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1885 and 2 maps from 1969 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Medford, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Medford.
Medford sends most of its workers to Medford and beyond, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
Medford has 257 jobs for its 1,125 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 604 in 2013 to 257.
The top destinations are Medford (49%), Abbotsford (3%) and Wausau (2%). Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Medford dropped by 347, to 257. In Medford, the average commute is 18 minutes. Half commute less than 5 miles.
| Medford | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.2% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.4% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 9% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Medford’s FEMA hazard score stands at 23 of 100. Expected losses in Medford break down as 39% from inland flooding and 38% from cold waves.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Medford’s peak summer temperature comes in at 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 10,002 U.S. towns with household incomes like Medford’s, it is less healthy than 79%, so it trails even them.
In Medford, 33% of adults sleep under 7 hours. 31% of adults in Medford get no exercise outside work; 16% smoke cigarettes.
| Medford | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 26% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 20% | 16% |
| What stands out | Medford | WI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.7% | 9.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.8% | 6.5% |
| More smokers | 16% | 13.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Medford’s density of trails is 0.1 miles per square mile. 4.9 miles of trail.
| Medford | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.3% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Medford; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Medford residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
8 notable people were born in Medford.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Medford is a city and county seat of Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,349 at the 2020 census. The city is located mostly within the boundaries of the Town of Medford.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Medford.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medford | #237 | B− | B | — | B− | C+ |
| Medford | #246 | B− | B+ | C+ | B− | B− |
| Browning | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hammel | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Little Black | — | — | A− | — | B− | C |
| Chelsea | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Little Black has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Medford and Little Black report no FBI crime data of their own. Browning, Hammel and Chelsea aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Medford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Medford grades B− overall, better than 53% of U.S. towns and #237 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades C+ for health and B− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
