A typical Nelson home is worth roughly $164,000
No new homes were permitted in 2025.
What kind of housing town is Nelson?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
What it takes to buy in Nelson
Try your own numbers below.
That covers a typical Nelson home, with $115K to spare.
A two-bedroom rents for about $970 a month here, $90 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, the Wisconsin typical property tax (1.42% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $970
Renters already here pay a median of $972.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Buffalo County, WI): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
No new homes permitted in 2025
No permits for new homes were issued in Nelson in 2025. The last year with any was 2021 (1 new home).
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Nelson's population fell by 52 even though 1 new home was permitted. Homes are holding fewer people: households are getting smaller, or more homes are used part of the year. Across Wisconsin: 1.3 new residents per new home.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $150,000 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $180,000 |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2014 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2008 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2007 | 3 | 1 | 2 | $375,000 |
| 2006 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $298,000 |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2002 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $80,000 |
| 2001 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $200,000 |
| 2000 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $80,000 |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
70% of Nelson households own their home
Half of Nelson’s homes were built before 1968.
Wisconsin: 68% own.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 · figures for a place this size carry wide margins of error.
Neighbors talk housing
What Nelson buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Listings link to their publishers. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer.