Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Tomah grades D overall, ranked 346th of 357 in Wisconsin, mostly because of incomes and schools. The median household income is $51K, and 17% of residents live below the poverty line. Its public schools trail 75% of Wisconsin towns on state tests and graduation. One bright spot: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 76% of U.S. towns. 38% of working residents work locally in Tomah, against 8.2% in Wisconsin’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. On health, just 78 of Wisconsin’s 874 towns do worse. Tomah has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Tomah Public Library and Tomah Post Office.
Where Tomah beats most towns.
Tomah Post OfficeWhere Tomah’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 Tomah is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 837 in 1870, 9,570 in 2020. The archive holds 15 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and a map from 1983 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Tomah, 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 Tomah.
Tomah draws workers from La Grange and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Wisconsin’s.
6,629 jobs are based in Tomah, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
3.6% of Tomah workers work from home. About one in 3 of Tomah’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Tomah is 17 minutes.
| Tomah | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 3.6% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $88,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Tomah Area School District. Three of its 11 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomah MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 663 | C |
| Tomah HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 882 | D |
| Tomah Area Montessori SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 72 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
Against the 6,224 U.S. towns with household incomes like Tomah’s, it is healthier than 56%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
45% of adults have obesity in Tomah. Tomah beats the Wisconsin average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 26% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Tomah.
| Tomah | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 26% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 24% | 23% |
| What stands out | Tomah | WI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.4% | 9.9% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.1% | 5.5% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 15.4% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 31.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 91% of Wisconsin’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 252 to 141 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Tomah’s violent crime rate is 2.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Tomah | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.4 per 1,000 residents | 6.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Tomah home is worth about $257,000, up 2.9% in a year, 24% below the Wisconsin typical home.
| Tomah | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $903 a month | $1,080 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Tomah has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 7° and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Wisconsin average. 24% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 33% across Wisconsin.
| Tomah | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 21% | 22% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.5 points. Across Wisconsin, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Tomah | WI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.4% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.5% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.1% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.7% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.4% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.8% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.3% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.7% | 29.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 28.3% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.6% | 11.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.2% | 22% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8% | 11.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 54% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 19 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Tomah.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.6 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Recreation Park, at 64 acres.
| Tomah | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Recreation Park | — | 64 |
| 2. Veteran's Park | — | 48 |
| 3. Buckley Park | — | 44 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Tomah; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Tomah residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
3 places in Tomah on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Tomah.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Tomah is a city in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,570 as of the 2020 census. The city is surrounded by the Town of Tomah and the Town of La Grange.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Tomah.
Tomah and La Grange have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Tomah and La Grange report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Tomah with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Tomah grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #346 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades C for health, C for safety and C for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 3.7 years of the area's median household income ($69,467 across the Sparta, 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 B.
7 notable people were born here, including Anne Nicol Gaylor and Arthur Claude Ruge.
