Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Onalaska grades B overall, 210th of 357 graded towns in Wisconsin, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 80% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it has 17 miles of trail. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $86K. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $365K for a typical one and 5 times the La Crosse metro’s $73K median household income. Onalaska’s trail network density is 1.5 miles per square mile, above both Wisconsin’s towns (0.4) and U.S. towns (0.4). Onalaska has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Frank Eugene Nichols House.
Where Onalaska beats most towns.
6.1% of the town is conserved land, across 29 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Onalaska is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 826 in 1880, a low of 826 in 1880, 18,803 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1888 and 5 maps from 1927 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Onalaska, 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 Onalaska.
Onalaska is safe by national standards but not by Wisconsin’s and has cooler summers than most of the country, though not than most of Wisconsin.
Trails run 17 miles in 29 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is La Crosse River Conservancy, 264 acres with 1.7 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mayo Clinic Health System | 5 mi | 131 |
| 2. Greens Coulee Park | 2.6 mi | 73 |
| 3. La Crosse River Conservancy | 1.7 mi | 264 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The public schools here belong to the Onalaska School District. Three of the 10 schools are below, and why each made the list. 3 public schools serve Onalaska, with 1,307 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onalaska MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 620 | B− |
| Onalaska HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 925 | B− |
| Eagle Bluff ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 471 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
Expected losses in Onalaska break down as 38% from cold waves and 29% from inland flooding. Its natural-hazard score from FEMA is 15 of 100. Federal aid has come to Onalaska households in 6 declared disasters; the latest was in 2018.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
30% of adults feel lonely in Onalaska, where Wisconsin’s towns sit at 30% and U.S. towns at 33%. Onalaska: just over one in ten adults smoke cigarettes. Of 32 CDC measures, Onalaska beats the Wisconsin average on 11 and trails it on 1.
| Onalaska | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Onalaska | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.1% | 12.1% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.7% | 8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
July afternoons average 82°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 78% of Wisconsin places with climate records; January nights average 8.5°.
In Onalaska, the July high is 82°F. About 43 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Onalaska | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 9°F | 11°F | 22°F |
| July high | 82°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 24.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 84% of Wisconsin’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 477 to 419 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Onalaska’s level of property crime comes in at 20.2 per 1,000 residents. Its rate of reported violence is 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Onalaska | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 20.2 per 1,000 residents | 6.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most people who work leave Onalaska to do it: just 18% work in town. In Onalaska, the average trip to work is 17 minutes. Employers in Onalaska added 998 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 11,744. Half commute less than 6 miles.
| Onalaska | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 8.2% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Since 2020, Onalaska has grown 7.8%, to 20,297 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Every broad age group is within 4 points of the Wisconsin average. 42% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in the town.
| Onalaska | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 42% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 20% | 18% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.3 points. Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Onalaska | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.4% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.9% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.9% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.1% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.5% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.7% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.5% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.9% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.7% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 19.4% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.7% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.6% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.2% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.5% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical Onalaska home is worth about $365,000, up 4% in a year, 8% above the Wisconsin typical home. The share of households in Onalaska who own their home: 63%. On the market in the town: a median 7 days to sell.
| Onalaska | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,130 a month | $1,076 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Onalaska
About 4 of every 100 Onalaska residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
6 notable people were born in Onalaska.
City in the United States
Onalaska ( ON-ə-LASS-kə) is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,803 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the La Crosse–Onalaska metropolitan area. Onalaska is built on a slightly elevated ridge above the Black River. Natural areas include both river bottom land and high, heavily wooded, scenic bluffs. A man-made reservoir at the city's western edge is known as Lake Onalaska. Onalaska is known as "The Sunfish Capital of the World."
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Onalaska.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onalaska | #210 | B | C | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Onalaska | #183 | B+ | C | — | B+ | A− |
| La Crosse | #342 | C− | C | D | C | B− |
| Medary | — | — | C | — | C | B |
| Holmen | #110 | A− | C− | A | B+ | B+ |
| Hamilton | — | — | C | — | A− | A− |
Medary and Hamilton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Onalaska, Medary and Hamilton report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Onalaska with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Onalaska grades B overall, better than 62% of U.S. towns and #210 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades A− for health, C+ for safety and B+ for schools.
Wisconsin has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Onalaska sits nearer the middle.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
6 notable people were born here, including Carlie Hanson and Leila Usher.
