Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Plenty in its favour, and one clear drawback. Taken together, its subjects give Somerset an A overall, better than 87% of U.S. towns. The ranking puts it 72nd of 357 in Wisconsin. Where it does best is incomes: the median household earns $131K. What counts against it is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $465K, 4.7 years of the Minneapolis metro’s $100K median household income. 11% of the land locally is conserved, above both the Wisconsin town median (3.8%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest park or preserve is St. Croix Islands Wildlife Area, at 940 acres. Only 4 of the 362 Wisconsin towns we compare have a higher home-ownership rate than Somerset.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · USGS PAD-US · OpenStreetMap.
Where Somerset beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Somerset | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.4% | 12.1% |
Where Somerset’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 Somerset is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 77 in 1880, 3,019 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1911 and 2 maps from 1948 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Somerset, 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 Somerset.
Somerset sends many workers across the state line to St. Paul, owes part of its health edge to its incomes and has cooler summers than most of the country, though not than most of Wisconsin.
Against the 4,414 U.S. towns with household incomes like Somerset’s, it is less healthy than 66%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Just over a fifth of Somerset adults binge drink. In Somerset, three quarters of adults had a checkup this year, and 9.2% have diabetes.
| Somerset | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 20% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 78% | 79% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 11% | 12% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 33% |
| What stands out | Somerset | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.4% | 12.1% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.7% | 3.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
45% of working residents cross a state line to work, St. Paul among the top destinations. Somerset has 495 jobs for its 2,375 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
The top destinations are Somerset (9%), Hudson (7%) and St. Paul (7%). Most people who work leave Somerset to do it: just 3% work in town. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in the town rose by 168, to 495. The mean commuting time for Somerset comes to 30 minutes.
| Somerset | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $131,000 | $87,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 1.6% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.5% | 8.4% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Somerset has had one paid flood insurance claim since 2023. On expected storm and flood damage, Somerset sits below 72% of U.S. communities. 43% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 20%.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median household earns $131,226, against $77,485 across Wisconsin, one input to its A+ for jobs and income.
The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Somerset at 4,536 residents, up 5.8% since 2020. Adults 35 to 64 are 47% of residents (38% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (22% statewide). 42% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in the town.
| Somerset | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.9 years | 42.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 42% | 32% | 29% |
56% women, 44% men
About 80 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.8 points). Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Somerset | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.9% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.9% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.5% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.2% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.4% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.9% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.6% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.8% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.9% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 0.7% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.1% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.1% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.3% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 30.3% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.4% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,500, single groups can be off by several points
July afternoons average 82.1°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 80% of Wisconsin places with climate records; January nights average 5.5°.
For Somerset, the January low is 6°F. About 52 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Somerset | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 6°F | 11°F | 22°F |
| July high | 82°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
In 8 parks and preserves, walkers have 0.8 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. St. Croix Islands Wildlife Area | — | 940 |
| 2. Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway | — | 771 |
| 3. Bass Lake Waterfowl Production Area | — | 229 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Somerset. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
24 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino Arena
28 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
31 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
27 mi Stadium & arenaAllianz Field
33 mi Theme parkNickelodeon UniverseU.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Allianz Field: Andy Witchger, CC BY 2.0 · Nickelodeon Universe: Tyler Vigen, CC BY 4.0
None within 15 miles of Somerset; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Somerset residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Wisconsin.
Village in Wisconsin, United States
Somerset is a village in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Apple River. The population was 3,019 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Somerset.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Somerset.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | #72 | A | C | — | B+ | A− |
| Somerset | #44 | A | B− | A | B+ | A− |
| St. Joseph | #170 | B+ | D | — | A | A− |
| Star Prairie | #88 | A− | B | — | A− | B+ |
| Farmington | — | — | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Houlton | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Farmington has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Somerset, St. Joseph, Star Prairie and Farmington report no FBI crime data of their own. Houlton isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Somerset with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Somerset grades A overall, better than 87% of U.S. towns and #72 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades A− 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 C.
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