Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,882, settled in 1872.
Rice Lake's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades C+, ranked 309th of 357 in Wisconsin. It has 6 miles of trail. 41% of working residents work locally in Rice Lake, above both Wisconsin’s towns (8.2%) and U.S. towns (8%). Rice Lake is home to Northwood Technical College. Among 362 Wisconsin towns, just 3 have a lower average trip to work than Rice Lake.
Where Rice Lake beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Rice Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 362 in 1880, 9,040 in 2020. The archive holds 19 old photos and papers going back to 1909 and a map from 1981 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rice 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Rice Lake.
Rice Lake draws workers from Rice Lake and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Wisconsin’s.
8,442 jobs are based in Rice Lake, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 13.2 minutes, against 22.2 across Wisconsin.
Rice Lake’s median household income is $52,000. Jobs based in Rice Lake grew to 8,442 in 2023, 829 more than in 2013. 13% of residents live below the poverty line in Rice Lake.
| Rice Lake | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $52,000 | $88,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 5.9% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 6.3% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Rice Lake Area School District. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Rice Lake High, with 674 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Lake MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 622 | B+ |
| Rice Lake HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 674 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
6.4 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Hiawatha Park, at 36 acres.
| Rice Lake | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.8% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Barron County Fairgrounds | 0.6 mi | 30 |
| 2. Hiawatha Park | — | 36 |
| 3. Clanton Park | — | 20 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 93% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Rice Lake since 2005.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 27.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 87% of Wisconsin’s graded towns.
The violent crime rate in Rice Lake is 4 per 1,000 residents.
| Rice Lake | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.9 per 1,000 residents | 6.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Rice Lake has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 80°, January nights drop to 3° and about 53 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Rice Lake home is worth about $278,000, up 4.6% in a year, 18% below the Wisconsin typical home. 55% of Rice Lake households own their home.
| Rice Lake | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $856 a month | $1,080 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Adults 35 to 64 are 32% of residents (38% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 26% of residents (22% statewide). 26% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 33% across Wisconsin.
| Rice Lake | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 36 years | 42.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 21% | 22% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.6 points. Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Rice Lake | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.1% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.4% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.6% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.6% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.8% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.8% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.9% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.4% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.6% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.9% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.3% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.2% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.6% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 6,606 U.S. towns with household incomes like Rice Lake’s, it is healthier than 78%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
| What stands out | Rice Lake | WI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.9% | 9.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.2% | 6.5% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.1% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Rice Lake
About 6 of every 100 Rice Lake residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Wisconsin.
Where Rice Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Rice Lake on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Rice Lake.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Rice Lake is a city in Barron County in northwestern Wisconsin, United States, on the shore of the lake with the same name. The city is a commercial and tourist center for the surrounding rural areas. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 9,040. The city is located mostly within the Town of Rice Lake.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Rice Lake.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Lake | #309 | C+ | C+ | C | B+ | C+ |
| Rice Lake | #144 | B+ | B− | — | B+ | C+ |
| Stanley | — | — | B− | — | B | B− |
Stanley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Rice Lake and Stanley report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rice Lake with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Rice Lake grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #309 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades C+ for health, C for safety and B+ for schools.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($65,933 across the Rice Lake, WI area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
19 notable people were born here, including Dick Lane and Henry Ellenson.
