Prairie LakeWI
A town of 1,670. 24% more nonprofits per person than the typical Wisconsin town.
Is Prairie Lake a good place to live?
The best of Prairie Lake’s subject grades is a B+ for civic life; the weakest is a D for walkability. Only 52 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns score lower on walkability. Prairie Lake’s January low is 4°F, below both Wisconsin’s towns (11°F) and U.S. towns (22°F). Only 49 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns score lower on the outdoors. Prairie Lake has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Prairie Lake stand out
Where Prairie Lake beats most towns.
98% of working residents leave Prairie Lake for work
Where Prairie Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Prairie Lake grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Prairie Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Prairie Lake: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Prairie Lake, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Prairie Lake.
Prairie Lake has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Most working residents leave Prairie Lake for work: only 2% work in town. Prairie Lake’s median household income is $71,000, below the Wisconsin town median ($87,000) and near the median of U.S. towns ($80,000). The top destinations are Chetek (14%), Rice Lake (13%) and Eau Claire (6%).
| Prairie Lake | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.9% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.1% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $87,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In Prairie Lake, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Prairie Lake has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Prairie Lake is 81°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Fewer young adults than Wisconsin overall
Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 23% of residents (19% statewide). Prairie Lake’s median age is 48.3 years. 27% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 33% across Wisconsin.
| Prairie Lake | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48.3 years | 42.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 27% | 32% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.1 points. Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Prairie Lake | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.2% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.5% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.4% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.6% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.5% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.1% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.9% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.1% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.7% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.1% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.9% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.2% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.3% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.8% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
Residents of Prairie Lake are less healthy than 56% of U.S. towns
Prairie Lake beats the Wisconsin average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 13% of adults have diabetes in Prairie Lake.
| Prairie Lake | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 20% | 16% |
| What stands out | Prairie Lake | WI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.8% | 77.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.2% | 6.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Prairie Lake faces a moderate natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 50% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Everything we know about Prairie Lake
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Prairie Lake
About 3 of every 100 Prairie Lake residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
About Prairie Lake
Town in Wisconsin, United States
Prairie Lake is a town in Barron County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,648 at the 2020 census, up from 1,532 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Wickware is located partially in the town.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 35 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,099 ft
Prairie Lake’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Prairie Lake.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Lake | — | — | C+ | — | B− | C+ |
| Chetek | — | — | B | — | C+ | B− |
| Chetek | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| Stanley | — | — | B− | — | B | B− |
| Maple Grove | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sioux Creek | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Prairie Lake, Chetek, Chetek and Stanley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Prairie Lake, Chetek, Chetek and Stanley report no FBI crime data of their own. Maple Grove and Sioux Creek aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Prairie Lake with a neighbor →
Questions about Prairie Lake
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Prairie Lake, WI a good place to live?
24% more nonprofits per person than the typical Wisconsin town.
Is Prairie Lake, 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 C+.