A typical Smelser home is worth roughly $261,000
Home prices around Smelser have risen about 44% over the past 5 years. Builders were permitted 2 new homes in 2025.
What kind of housing town is Smelser?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
A typical home costs 3.6 years of income
Less than across Wisconsin (4.4 years). Try your own numbers below.
That covers a typical Smelser home, with $4K to spare.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,010 a month here, $650 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Smelser’s typical property tax (1.32% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
93% of Smelser households own their home
Half of Smelser’s homes were built before 1975.
Wisconsin: 68% own.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 · figures for a place this size carry wide margins of error.
Home prices up 44% in 5 years
The federal house price index for the ZIP codes around Smelser rose 44% over the past 5 years, slower than across Wisconsin (57%). Last year prices rose 1.1%.
Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (annual) for the ZIP codes around Smelser, weighted by land area. It tracks repeat sales of the same homes, so it shows how prices changed, not what homes cost.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,010
Renters already here pay a median of $1,050.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Grant County, WI): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
2 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 2 new homes in Smelser in 2025, all single-family houses. Over the past 10 years, Smelser has permitted 23 homes in all.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 2 | 2 | 0 | $575,000 |
| 2025 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $750,000 |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $200,000 |
| 2023 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $965,000 |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $268,000 |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $510,000 |
| 2020 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $265,000 |
| 2019 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $520,000 |
| 2018 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $644,000 |
| 2017 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $830,000 |
| 2016 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $345,000 |
| 2015 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $360,000 |
| 2014 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2013 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $590,000 |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Smelser vs. its neighbors
Smelser is the 3rd least expensive of 6 neighboring towns. Tap one to see its housing page.
Compare more
| Town | Typical value | 1-yr change | 2-bed rent | New homes 2025 | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smelser | $261K* | +1.1%† | $1,010 | 2 | $72,358 |
| Platteville | $261K | +5.1% | $1,060 | — | $82,321 |
| Cuba City | $260K | +5.7% | $970 | 24 | $74,571 |
| Paris | $279K* | +0.2%† | $980 | — | $98,750 |
| Hazel Green | $277K | +6.6% | $1,030 | 2 | $83,646 |
| Benton | $208K | +11.1% | $1,010 | 1 | $79,000 |
Typical value: Zillow Home Value Index; * Census median home value where Zillow has none. † FHFA price index change where Zillow has none. Rent: HUD Fair Market Rent. New homes: Census building permits.
Neighbors talk housing
What Smelser 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. Price trend: Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. 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.