Spooner, Wisconsin.
Typical home $297,665 (+4.7% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$956 (+158%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $13,325 +5%
- $284,340$297,665 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $76,003 +34%
- $221,662$297,665 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Spooner$1,562
- Wisconsin$1,770
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 12 years.
Typical home values in Spooner, WI rose 4.7% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Spooner, Washburn County, Wisconsin
Spooner is a city of 2,477 people in Washburn County. 57% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 43% are rented. Unemployment in Washburn County was 4.0% in August 2026, and the county had 1.2% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in manufacturing, then schools and health care.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Spooner is a small city in Washburn County, Wisconsin, with an older population than most of the country. Fewer homes are lived in by their owners than across much of the state, and a good share of residents live on tight budgets. Winters are long, cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, while July brings pleasantly warm days, and the year is fairly wet once rain and melted snow are counted together.
Work. Residents work mostly in manufacturing, in schools, hospitals and social care, and in shops. Among the largest workplaces in Spooner are Schmitz's Economart, a grocery store, Spooner Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, a skilled nursing facility, and Shell Lake Woodcrafters, a maker of custom wood furniture. Commutes are short, and unemployment in the county has edged up from a year ago.
Things to do. The Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum is a museum in or beside town, and Shell Lake is a lake a short drive away. For a longer outing, the Namekagon River is a river a longer drive away, and Straight Lake State Park is a protected area, also a longer drive away.
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- 1,086households
- 23%of adults have a degree
- 22%below the poverty line
- 18 mintypical commute
- 15%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Washburn County had 5,459 jobs in 2025, 1.2% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 21° and lows near 1°; warmest in July, with highs near 80° and lows near 58°. About 56 inches of snow and 32 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Spooner Ag Res Station weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Spooner
- Schmitz's EconomartGrocery stores132
- Spooner Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, LLC / Dove Healthcare - SpoonerSkilled nursing facilities102
- Shell Lake WoodcraftersNonupholstered, household-type, custom wood furniture, manufacturing70
- Terry Leckel TruckingMotor freight carrier, used household goods55
- Transportation Services Unlimted of Shell LakeMotor freight carrier, used household goods55
- T & T ManufacturingMachine tools, metal cutting, manufacturing43
- Red Cross PharmacyDepartment stores28
- Cadrex SpoonerSafe deposit boxes and chests, metal, manufacturing26
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 10 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 556 people in all. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Cold wavesRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Washburn County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, very low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Washburn County.
Spooner home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Spooner$297,665
- Wisconsin$337,196
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Spooner listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Spooner26.11%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Spooner57
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Spooner11
Zip codes with a Spooner address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Spooner — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.