With the arrival of tech companies to a city founded by French explorers who -- legend has it – exclaimed “Voici l’eau claire!” (Here is the clear water!), Eau Claire continues its 21st century expansion as one of the state’s success stories. And with that growth, parks, restaurants, arts installations and other cultural attractions are keeping pace, making Wisconsin’s fourth-fastest growing city a home.
“Eau Claire is booming and the rate of growth over the past 10 years is simply amazing,’’ says Peter Hebert, an Eau Claire Realtor with NextHome WISCO Success. “For many reasons, including a remarkably low cost of living and incredible outdoor attractions, software, medical and manufacturing companies have come here and thrived. And with that, our cultural scene has just exploded. People say that Eau Claire is a little city, but I consider it a very well-rounded big town.”
Outdoor recreation in Eau Claire is year-round, but shifts with the seasons, and the city offers a network of bike lanes, walking paths and bridges over the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers, which converge downtown. River rafting in the summer, skiing in the winter combine with 12 month pursuits.
The Eau Claire River runs adjacent to Banbury Place, an industrial landmark converted to retail.
The peak of Mount Simon Park gives residents once of the best views of Eau Claire.
Randall Park residents enjoy the winding paths through Owen Park.
Eau Claire is known as the city of bridges.
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Historic homes, a few new builds for incoming residents
Eau Claire’s first homes were built in the 1880s by the city’s affluent founders and are often still the largest homes in downtown, many of them in the Third Ward, which adjoins University of Wisconsin’s Eau Claire campus and a bend in the Chippewa River. As the city grew through the early 1900s, many working class homes built were two-story farmhouse style and one- and two-story cottages. After World War II, the mid-century modern ranch-style house, split-levels and Colonial-inspired homes became common. As Eau Claire is a college town, many large homes have been remodeled into separate rental units to house students.
Townhouses make up less than 5% of the city's homes, but that number is growing, Hebert says. The average single-family home price in Eau Claire, from August 2023 through August 2024, was $322,500.
In addition to employers based in larger West Coast or Midwest cities, the largest employers in the Eau Claire metro area contribute more than 20,000 jobs to a labor force of about 40,000 in a city with a population of about 71,000, up about 10% in the last 14 years. They include the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the Eau Claire Area School District, Menards grocery chain and the Mayo Clinic Health System.
Education and healthcare are the leading employers by industry. Software companies that have recently relocated or expanded to Eau Claire include Jamf, Applied Data Consultants and Fresh Software.
The Third Ward neighborhood in Eau Claire is renowned for its iconic historic mansions.
Rows of Farmhouse style homes fill the streets of Randall Park.
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire near Third Ward, is the heart and soul of the city.
Jamf is a software company that calls Eau Claire home.
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Fun indoors and out, in all kinds of weather
In keeping with Eau Claire’s four-season climate that leans toward cooler weather, outdoor sports change with the temperatures, which range from all-day below-freezing weather in the winter to mid-70s in the summer. Eau Claire’s outdoor stars are its two rivers and more than 30 parks. Kim Watnemoe, Office Coordinator with Eau Claire County Parks & Forest, says, “The parks in and around downtown Eau Claire are some of the city’s best attractions. They’re close to the river, they host events much of the year, and they educate visitors about the history of Eau Claire.”
River rafting, kayaking and cycling are popular sports throughout the warmer months. Cross country skiing and skating take over in the winter. Randall Park neighborhood sits between downtown Eau Claire and the Eau Claire River to the east, and Half Moon Lake, a 134-acre peninsula, to the west. Historic Carson Park dominates most of the peninsula and offers baseball, football, and softball venues, as well as the Chippewa Valley Museum. It also is a great place to fish, canoe or kayak. Its views of the river and downtown Eau Claire are some of the city’s best.
The city averages about 55 inches of snow a year, while June is historically the wettest month with an average rainfall of 4.83 inches. The Chippewa River has historically experienced significant floods that have damaged riverside parks, surrounding trails and some commercial property. The last such event was in April 2023.
Eau Claire dog lovers will take daily walks along the paths at Phoenix Park.
Residents enjoy fishing at Carson Park.
Carson Park is home to the Chippewa Valley Museum.
Eau Claire has four seasons with an average rainfall of 39.22 inches.
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A thriving arts and culture scene brings awards and tourism to Eau Claire
Eau Claire is nationally regarded for its arts and culture scene. The indie folk band Bon Iver, who won two Grammy Awards in 2012, formed in 2007 in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, 12 miles east of Eau Claire. Justin Vernon, the band’s lead singer, curated the Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival from 2015 through 2018. The Sculpture Tour Eau Claire, founded in 2010, is the largest sculpture tour in the United States. The year-round free public art tour exhibits original outdoor sculptures across Eau Claire.
Pablo Center at the Confluence is a 130,000-square-foot performing arts and recording center in downtown Eau Claire. Founded in 2018, it is dedicated to art in all its forms, including music, theater, visual and literary arts. Its location at the confluence of the Chippewa River and the Eau Claire River is significant as the site was the sacred and ancestral lands of the indigenous people of the Ojibwe and Dakota Nations.
The center is home to the Eau Claire Regional Theatre and to the Music and Theatre Arts program at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Eau Claire features more than 10 art galleries and 14 museums that cater to a wide range of interests from the history of logging to modern sculpture. Semi-professional sports teams include the Chippewa Valley Phoenix football team, which plays home games at historic Carson Park. The Eau Claire Cavaliers baseball team won their first Chippewa River Baseball League championship in August 2024.
Airport neighborhood residents are minutes from downtown Eau Claire and the Sculpture Tour.
The Pablo Center at the Confluence is the home of art, theater, and entertainment in Eau Claire.
Eau Claire residents frequent the Pablo Center for rotating art galleries and featured artists.
Carson Park is the home of the Chippewa Valley Phoenix Football Team.
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Downtown Eau Claire is the hottest spot for shopping and dining
“With so much growth in Eau Claire over the past several years, the dining and shopping options around downtown have exploded,” says Hebert. “There’s fine dining, culturally unique bistros, wine bars, breweries, distilleries and mixology shops. Residents who consider themselves ‘foodies’ fall in love with Eau Claire’s dining scene when they come here.” Hebert explains that with a significant influx of Vietnamese immigrants who moved to Eau Claire after the Vietnam War, Hmong cuisine became popular and influenced the success of other Asian, Latin and Mexican-inspired restaurants downtown.
Gourmet destinations range from the compact Eau Claire Cheese and Deli to The Nucleus Café in Randall Park. Acoustic Café doubles as an art gallery and offers occasional live music in the evening. For a mix of fine dining, historic location and modern décor, visitors and locals head to The Lismore Hotel which features The Informalist, a trendy new restaurant. Their first-floor setting offers modern décor and outdoor seating. Dive is the hotel’s rooftop lounge that pays tribute to the rooftop swimming pool that occupied the space in the 1970s.
Downtown retail shops include The Antique Emporium and Riverside Bike and Skate, an essential resource in a city with two rivers. Festival Foods offers two full-service grocery stores in Eau Claire, while Oakwood Mall is the primary one-stop indoor shopping destination in the city.
Eau Claire Cheese and Deli is a local favorite lunch spot serving a variety of sandwiches.
Minutes from East Hillside, Acoustic Cafe is an Eau Claire classic anytime of day.
The Antique Emporium in Randall Park is a popular Eau Claire shopping destination.
Festival Foods is one of the closest grocery stores to Pinehurst.
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Airport and highways lead near and far
Neighborhoods in Eau Claire can be as close as 2 miles from Chippewa Valley Regional Airport or as far as 8 miles. While Sun Country Airlines has been the primary carrier since 2017, SkyWest Airlines is returning to Eau Claire, with daily service to Chicago O’Hare International Airport beginning in December 2024.
Eau Claire Transit is the city’s primary bus service, with stops inside most neighborhoods close to downtown Eau Claire. The terrain in Eau Claire ranges from flat, like on the campus of UW-EC, to particularly hilly, as found in the neighborhood of Princeton Valley. Residents who live close to the university or downtown may cycle to work. However, most residents will drive cars for their daily routines. Eau Claire is about 180 miles northwest of Madison, the state capital and about 95 miles east of the twin cities Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Eau Claire Area School District is the No. 1 district in Eau Claire County
Eau Claire Area School District is the No. 1 district in Eau Claire County and receives a B-plus grade from Niche. In addition to about 20 public elementary, middle and high schools, the district also offers an early learning program and three charter schools. A-minus graded Chippewa Valley Montessori Charter School is the best public elementary school in the county, according to Niche. B-plus-graded Altoona Middle School is the top-ranked public middle school and boasts a student-teacher ratio of 13-to-1. Graded-A by Niche, Memorial High School is ranked the No. 1 public high school in the county, has a 92% average graduation rate and is named one of the best high schools for STEM in Wisconsin.
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is located in downtown along the banks of the Chippewa River. Founded in 1916 as the Eau Claire State Teachers College, the university’s College of Education is one of four colleges on campus. It offers 109 undergraduate majors and 11 graduate programs. U.S. News and World Reports ranks UW-EC among the top 10 regional public universities in the Midwest. UW–Eau Claire's Jazz Ensemble program has been called one of the most well-regarded programs in the country by The New York Times.
Crime in Eau Claire is slightly above the national average
According to the Eau Claire Police 2023 Annual Report, 4,746 total crimes were reported to police in 2021, with 4,206 in 2022 and 4,214 in 2023.
Disclaimer: Certain information contained herein is derived from information provided by parties other than Homes.com. Our sources include: Accuweather, Public Records and Neustar. All information provided is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate and should be independently verified.
