Living in French Island, WI
French Island is a small town of 4,188 people in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. It's about 3 miles from La Crosse, WI and 125 miles from Minneapolis, MN, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 84°F and winter highs 27°F, with about 43 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $207k and rent runs about $1k a month.
4,188people
$207kTypical home
$1,030/moRent
84° / 27°Summer / winter
43"Snow
224Sunny days
123Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Small town of 4,188
- Part of a metro area
- About 2,072 people per sq mi
- 125 mi to Minneapolis, MN
- 3 mi to La Crosse, WI
- 3 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $207k (≈$1,306/mo)
- Median rent $1,030/mo
- Median household income $60k
- Property tax about 1.6% of value
- 11.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 84°F
- Winter highs around 27°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 61°F)
- 224 sunny days a year (74 totally clear)
- 141 cloudy days a year
- 43 of 90 winter days are gray
- 123 days a year with rain or snow
- 43" of snow a year
- 13 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 38 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- Low violent crime (210 per 100k), county-wide
- About average property crime (1,932 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 48
- 20% of households have kids
- 21% are 65 or older
- 25% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 2% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 18 min
- 3% walk or take transit to work
- 1 mi to LSE airport
- 120 mi to MSP (major hub)
- 76 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 80% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1975
- 94% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 653 ft
- 688 mi to the ocean
- 60 mi to a big lake
- 4 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 9 mi to the nearest ski area
- 6 mi to the nearest campground
- 19 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 148 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 121 bars within 25 mi
- 49 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 2 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 19 museums within 25 mi
- 4 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 43 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 46% of Wisconsin districts (reading)
- 3 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 7 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 7 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 7 mi to the nearest vet
- 3 mi to the nearest dog park
- 7 congregations per 10k people
- 3 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- La Crosse County: D+9 in 2024
- Wisconsin: Purple — split almost evenly
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Moderate tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- High flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk