Mercer School District, WI

Original Research by School Decision on Mercer School District

The Mercer School District serves students from prekindergarten through twelfth grade in a rural corner of northern Wisconsin. The district is very small, with an enrollment that puts it among the smallest in the state. That scale shapes almost everything about the experience here. Class sizes are very small, and students across grade levels share a single building, Mercer School.

The student body is predominantly white, with a small share of Hispanic students and even smaller numbers of Native American and multiracial students. Data on economic disadvantage is missing from the available records, and information on students with disabilities and English learners is also absent. A parent considering the district would want to ask the school directly about the supports available for those populations.

State test results are available for some grades but are suppressed for many others because the number of students tested is too small to report publicly. Where results are reported, they show a varied picture. In mathematics, proficiency rates across the middle grades were moderate. In English language arts, one grade level posted a high proficiency rate, while another grade level had a lower rate. Science and social studies results, where reported, were strong. The pattern is uneven, and with such small numbers in each grade, a single cohort can swing the results considerably. A parent may want to talk with the principal about how the school monitors individual student progress given the limited ability to draw conclusions from year-to-year test comparisons.

The district operates one school, and no program offerings such as advanced courses, career pathways, or dual credit options are listed in the available data. For high school students, the range of course options may be limited by the small enrollment. Families who want a broad array of electives or advanced placement classes should ask what the school offers, including any shared arrangements with neighboring districts.

Home values in the communities the district covers are moderate relative to national benchmarks, with the most expensive homes in a lake-area community and more affordable options in the surrounding towns. The area is sparsely populated, and the district is the only one in Iron County, so there is no nearby comparison to other districts for metrics like spending or chronic absenteeism. The district’s graduation rate is not reported in the data, so that measure cannot be characterized.

The district brief found no evidence of recent referendums, curriculum changes, or property-tax shifts that would affect families. That does not mean nothing is happening, only that no public record of such changes surfaced in the search.

For a family that values a very small, close-knit school where each child is known individually, Mercer offers that environment. For families concerned about academic breadth or who want to see consistently strong test scores across all grades, the gaps in the data and the uneven results are worth exploring further with the school. The district does not have a public profile of detailed programming or policy changes, so much of what a parent would want to know may require a direct conversation with the staff.

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District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

105

Grades

PK–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 10%

White 83%

Two+ 4%

Am. Indian / AK Native 4%

Schools in this District

1 schools are officially reported under this district.

Mercer School

Academic Performance

Percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards, by grade.

Mathematics

3 grades reported

63%

Grade 5

60%

Grade 7

67%

Grade 8

English Language Arts

3 grades reported

88%

Grade 5

30%

Grade 7

67%

Grade 8

Science

1 grade reported

83%

Grade 8

Social Studies

1 grade reported

67%

Grade 8

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$303,349

Year-over-year change+8.0%

Range across 4 ZIP codes$203K to $655K

vs. state typical0.91x

vs. national typical0.82x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (4 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
54547	Mercer	$312K	+8.5%	91.3%
54514	Butternut	$206K	+2.6%	8.2%
54552	Park Falls	$203K	+9.8%	0.4%
54545	Manitowish Waters	$655K	+5.6%	0.0%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$1,531/mo

Home price / national median income3.6x

Comparison

State typical home value$333,909 (+5.4% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.