IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Portage, WI
Portage is a big small town of 10,236 people in Columbia County, Wisconsin. It's about 32 miles from Madison, WI and 83 miles from Milwaukee, WI, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 82°F and winter highs 26°F, with about 40 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $205k and rent runs about $1k a month.
10,236people
$205kTypical home
$1,008/moRent
82° / 26°Summer / winter
40"Snow
224Sunny days
122Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Big small town of 10,236
- Its own small hub, not a suburb
- About 1,147 people per sq mi
- 83 mi to Milwaukee, WI
- 32 mi to Madison, WI
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $205k (≈$1,292/mo)
- Median rent $1,008/mo
- Median household income $65k
- Property tax about 1.6% of value
- 4.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 82°F
- Winter highs around 26°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 61°F)
- 224 sunny days a year (73 totally clear)
- 141 cloudy days a year
- 46 of 90 winter days are gray
- 122 days a year with rain or snow
- 40" of snow a year
- 14 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 39 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- Very low violent crime (109 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,241 per 100k)
People
- Median age 38
- 27% of households have kids
- 15% are 65 or older
- 20% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 5% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 24 min
- 4% walk or take transit to work
- 29 mi to MSN airport
- 89 mi to MKE (major hub)
- Amtrak station in town
- 60% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1962
- 88% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 797 ft
- 651 mi to the ocean
- 32 mi to a big lake
- 14 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 4 mi to the nearest ski area
- 5 mi to the nearest campground
- 19 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 139 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 46 bars within 25 mi
- 22 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 20 museums within 25 mi
- 5 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 17 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 38% of Wisconsin districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 1 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 14 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 16 mi to the nearest vet
- 15 mi to the nearest dog park
- 9 congregations per 10k people
- 16 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Columbia County: R+5 in 2024
- Wisconsin: Purple — split almost evenly
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Moderate flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk