Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Merrill gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $198K, 2.9 years of the county’s $68K median household income. It grades B− overall, 260th of 357 graded towns in Wisconsin. Merrill’s age of the median resident is 52.7 years, where Wisconsin’s towns sit at 42.1 years and U.S. towns at 40.5 years. The biggest place to walk is Lincoln County Forest, 1,588 acres with 3.4 miles of trail. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 78% of U.S. towns.
Where Merrill beats most towns.
Where Merrill’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 Merrill is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 882 in 1880, 9,347 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1883 and 2 maps from 1966 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Merrill, 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 Merrill.
Merrill sends most of its workers to Merrill and beyond, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Wisconsin (mostly inland flooding).
Merrill has 326 jobs for its 1,471 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Merrill had 326 jobs in 2023, down 69 from 2013. Commuting out is the norm in the town: 3% of working residents work locally. The top destinations are Merrill (32%), Wausau (16%) and Tomahawk (2%). For half of commuters, work is under 18 miles away.
| Merrill | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.7% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.6% | 6.3% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| NTC Christian Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 53 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
15% of Merrill adults report frequent physical distress. Two figures for adults in the town: 30% get no exercise outside work, 16% smoke cigarettes.
| Merrill | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Merrill | WI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.5% | 9.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.4% | 6.5% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.1% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Merrill’s peak summer temperature stands at 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
5.9 miles of trail wind through 4 parks and preserves. Merrill’s trail density comes in at 0.1 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves locally: 4, covering 2,213 acres.
| Merrill | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.8% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lincoln County Forest | 3.4 mi | 1,588 |
| 2. Prairie Trails Park | 2 mi | 89 |
| 3. Council Grounds State Park | — | 393 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 91% of Wisconsin towns, with expected losses of about $940 per resident a year; that rating is what its C+ for hazard risk is built on.
In Merrill, the FEMA risk score is 56 of 100. 47% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 40%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Merrill; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Merrill residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
9 notable people were born in Merrill.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Merrill is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located to the south of and adjacent to the Town of Merrill. The population was 9,347, according to the 2020 census. Merrill is part of the United States Census Bureau's Merrill MSA, which includes all of Lincoln County. Together with the Wausau MSA, which includes all of Marathon County, it forms the Wausau-Merrill CSA.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Merrill.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrill | #260 | B− | A− | — | B− | C |
| Merrill | #329 | C | B+ | C | B− | C− |
| Harding | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Scott | — | — | B+ | — | B− | C |
| Rock Falls | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Schley | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pine River | — | — | B+ | — | B− | C |
Scott and Pine River have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Merrill, Scott and Pine River report no FBI crime data of their own. Harding, Rock Falls and Schley aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Merrill with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Merrill grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #260 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades C for health and B− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
9 notable people were born here, including Wendy Boglioli and Donald Edgar Tewes.