Madison / La Crosse
La Crosse has 51,356 residents (give or take 92) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19), about 2,366 people per square mile.
La Crosse is about 103 miles from the Census center point for Madison in a straight line and covers 21.709 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for La Crosse that is 54603 (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision and ZCTA to place relationship files, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt and https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
Median household income in La Crosse is $55,866 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
48% of La Crosse homes are single-family detached, 14% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 31% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19).
54% of La Crosse homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 48% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
La Crosse has 11 points fewer detached houses than La Crosse County overall (59%) and 11 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 20% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US55063, checked 2026-10-19).
54% of La Crosse homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19), so the market splits between resident-led jobs where the occupant picks the system and landlord-led jobs where they do not, and the rebate paperwork differs.
Of the 22,965 occupied homes in La Crosse, 59% heat with natural gas, 1% with heating oil, 36% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 59% of La Crosse against electricity at 36%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
La Crosse has about the La Crosse County oil share of 1% and 8 points more electric heat than the county's 28% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US55063, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for La Crosse on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Focus on Energy air source heat pump instant discount (ratepayer), run by Focus on Energy, is a live program for Wisconsin addresses and covers qualifying equipment at $900 per system (registry row 20 verified 2026-10-07, https://assets.focusonenergy.com/production/docs/trade-ally/TAS-Trade-Ally-Solutions-Rebates-Overview-20260101_CLEAN.pdf, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the La Crosse address before counting it. With 36% of La Crosse homes already on electric heat and 62% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
La Crosse has 24,404 housing units, 26% built before 1940 and 66% before 1980, with 15% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19).
La Crosse has 10 points more pre-1940 homes than La Crosse County as a whole (16%) and 8 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 23% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US55063, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median La Crosse home was built in 1965 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.9 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19).
66% of La Crosse homes were built before 1980 and only 15% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US5540775, checked 2026-10-19), so most of the stock predates modern insulation codes; the installer's heat-loss calculation, not a square-footage rule, decides the tonnage.
Heating design temperature: -8F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), La Crosse County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 137 to 140 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That -8F figure is the La Crosse County cold-day number a La Crosse heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -8F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 59% of La Crosse on gas and 36% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median La Crosse home has 4.9 rooms and was built around 1965, and the count of heads and the tonnage follow the rooms and the insulation, not the square footage.
The form on this page is the follow-up for La Crosse. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for La Crosse yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.