Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,531, settled in 1883.
The median household income is $45K, and 22% of residents live below the poverty line. Overall it grades C, ranked 315th of 357 in Wisconsin. 7% of its land is conserved and natural-hazard risk is low. 22% of residents live below the poverty line in Spooner, above both the Wisconsin town median (6.3%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 36 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns score higher on walkability. Spooner has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them George V. Siegner House and Mrs. Richard Polson House.
Where Spooner beats most towns.
Where Spooner’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 Spooner is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,453 in 1910, 2,477 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 1904 and 2 maps from 1965 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Spooner, 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 Spooner.
Spooner draws workers from Shell Lake and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Wisconsin’s.
3.9 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The trail density in Spooner is 0.9 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is College Street Park, at 30 acres.
| Spooner | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.7% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. College Street Park | 0.5 mi | 30 |
| 2. Washburn County Fairgrounds | — | 17 |
| 3. Eastland Addition Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Spooner Area School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Spooner High, with 361 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spooner ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 363 | B− |
| Spooner HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 361 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
1,831 jobs are based in Spooner, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Only 2 of the 362 Wisconsin towns we compare have a lower median household income than Spooner. 25% of Spooner working residents work locally. The top destinations are Rice Lake (7%), Shell Lake (5%) and Beaver Brook (4%).
| Spooner | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 25% | 8.2% | 8% |
| Median household income | $45,000 | $88,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 90% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Spooner has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Spooner’s July high is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 3,901 U.S. towns with household incomes like Spooner’s, it is healthier than 81%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Spooner beats the Wisconsin average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 33% of adults get no exercise outside work in Spooner.
| Spooner | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 26% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Spooner | WI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81.4% | 77.8% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.7% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
60.6% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 43.7% across Wisconsin.
The typical Spooner home is worth about $298,000, up 4.7% in a year, 12% below the Wisconsin typical home.
| Spooner | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $763 a month | $1,080 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 18.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 67% of Wisconsin’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
None within 15 miles of Spooner; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Spooner residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
6.7% of the town is conserved land, across 4 parks and preserves.
2 places in Spooner on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 towns share a border with Spooner.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spooner · Spooner | #315 | C | B− | B− | B− | C+ |
| Evergreen | — | — | B+ | — | B− | C+ |
| Beaver Brook | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bashaw | — | — | B | — | B− | C+ |
Evergreen and Bashaw have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Evergreen and Bashaw report no FBI crime data of their own. Beaver Brook isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Spooner and Spooner are one community, graded once. Compare Spooner with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Spooner grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #315 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades C+ for health, B− for safety and B− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 4.7 years of the area's median household income ($63,441 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
