Altoona, Wisconsin
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Altoona City. It lies in ZIP code area 54720. It stands on Fivemile Creek. The Survey maps it on the Eau Claire East quadrangle. 8,293 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 896 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAltoona grew from 6,706 to 8,293 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6,706 | |
| 2020 | 8,293 | +1,587 (+24%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 15 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1934 USGS Chippewa Falls quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1936 USGS Chippewa Falls quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Eau Claire quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Eau Claire quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Eau Claire quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Eau Claire East quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Eau Claire quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
107 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 107 fires within 5 miles of Altoona between 1992 and 2020, burning about 141 acres in total. None started naturally. 8 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 |
| Debris and open burning | 26 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 13 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 8 |
| Fireworks | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Other causes | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 3070 |
| 20 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | SEVEN MILE LANDFILL FIRE |
| 17 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 14 September 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 1 September 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | SEYMOUR NIGHT FIRE |
| 1 September 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 12 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Altoona: 5 producers, 5 unknowns, 2 past producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agnes Lisker Shale Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Old Town Road Sandstone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Bloomer Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Brunswick Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Chippewa County Operations | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Eau Claire Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Eau Claire Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Kopp Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Litchfield Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Shawtown Plant No. 1 Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
21 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Altoona in 21 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 14 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | $5,000 | A large tree branch blew off a tree and landed on a car. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | $5,000 | A tree fell on a house and vehicle east of Eau Claire, near Altoona. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Altoona | - | Two rounds of hail fell on the south side of Eau Claire near Golf Road. The largest report of 2.75 inches came from the WQOW studio around 4:18 PM. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | - | A large tree fell onto a powerline in Altoona. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | - | A large tree was blown down east of Eau Claire. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | - | A few trees were blown down southwest of Altoona, near Highway 93, and Golf Road. |
| August 2009 | Heavy Rain | Altoona | - | Torrential rainfall and ponding of water in streets were reported by the local media around Eau Claire, Wisconsin. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | - | Several trees down. |
| June 2021 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| September 2016 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seymour | 1.6 miles | 15 | |
| Terrace Hill | 1.8 miles | 15 | |
| Eau Claire | 3.0 miles | 15 | |
| Putnam Heights | 3.0 miles | 15 | |
| Shawtown | 5.0 miles | 14 | |
| Union | 6.2 miles | 14 | |
| Mount Hope Corners | 8.2 miles | 11 | |
| Cleghorn | 8.4 miles | 12 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Altoona | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q444199 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1560807. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.






