CITY PROFILE
Wausau, WI
WHAT LIVING HERE IS LIKE
Wausau is a smaller metro where housing costs are moderately priced for our dataset, making it an accessible option if you're not looking to stretch your budget far. Expect a cold-winter, cool-summer climate with moderate sunshine and moderate rainfall—typical of the upper Midwest, with real seasonal shifts. It's a quieter, compact area suited to those prioritizing affordability and stability over big-city amenities.
By the numbers
| Typical home value | $274K · Zillow, May 2026 (ZHVI) |
|---|---|
| Typical rent | $1,024/mo · Zillow, May 2026 (ZORI) |
| Average temperature | 5.5°C · warmest 20.4°C · coolest -10.9°C · NASA POWER |
| Annual precipitation | 877 mm · NASA POWER |
| Sunshine (solar energy) | 3.82 kWh/m²/day · NASA POWER (annual mean) |
| Metro size rank (US) | #266 · Zillow SizeRank |
Match scores
- Affordable to buy89
- Affordable to rent93
- Climate comfort15
- Plenty of sunshine37
- Big-city amenities36
Scores are 0–100, normalised across the metros we cover, derived from the sourced figures above (higher = better on that factor). A research aid, not a recommendation to move. Job market, safety, and healthcare access need key-gated feeds (BLS, FBI, Census) not yet wired — see the methodology.
