Mauston / New Lisbon, WI hotel market report, Q2 2026

Mauston and New Lisbon form a small, supply-constrained hotel market on the I-90/94 corridor in Juneau County, Wisconsin. Five hotels and 283 rooms live off a steady stream of interstate travelers, summer recreation at Castle Rock Lake and the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, and a year-round institutional base at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center and Mile Bluff Medical Center.

Executive summary

Over the trailing twelve months to April 2026 the market ran 51.1% occupancy, a $94.53 ADR and $48.29 RevPAR. Occupancy rose +4.1% year over year, which more than offset an ADR decline of -1.93% and lifted RevPAR +2.07%. The market has largely settled after the post-COVID swings.

Occupancy sits inside its 10-year typical range (47.56% to 52.99%), and ADR is near the top of its typical range ($79.86 to $95.91). The market sale price per room has climbed to $61,700, the top of CoStar's historical extreme range, a sign of real investor appetite for secondary Wisconsin highway markets. Nothing is under construction or planned, so the competitive set stays as it is heading into the summer season.

The Mauston hotels alone are fewer than the three reporting properties CoStar needs to publish performance, so the 60-room Comfort Inn & Suites in New Lisbon was added to the reporting tract. Every figure in this report is for the combined Mauston / New Lisbon pool.

The market

Mauston is the county seat of Juneau County, where Interstate 90/94 meets U.S. Highway 12/16 in south-central Wisconsin. It sits about 180 miles from both Chicago and Minneapolis, a midpoint on one of the Midwest's busiest interstate corridors. New Lisbon, nine miles northeast on I-90/94, shares the same trade area, and the two towns together are the main hotel stop on this stretch of the interstate.

The city had about 4,147 residents in 2025. Its economy rests on healthcare, government, manufacturing and recreation. Juneau County's labor market employs about 12,200 people, led by manufacturing, health care and social assistance, and retail. Median household income is about $60,174, below the state median, and the poverty rate is 21.7%. That keeps wage-sensitive business travel limited and makes the market lean on publicly funded employers and pass-through travelers.

Natural assets shape demand. Castle Rock Lake, at 16,000 acres the largest man-made lake in Wisconsin, sits just south of Mauston and draws boating, fishing and water sports all summer. The Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, Buckhorn State Park and the Yellow River State Forest stretch the season into spring and fall with hunting, ATV trails and wildlife viewing. Interstate access plus year-round recreation gives Mauston two kinds of demand, which sets it apart from a pure highway market.

New supply

There is no hotel pipeline in Mauston / New Lisbon. CoStar shows zero rooms under construction as of April 2026, the same as the prior period, and no hotel has opened here in the past five years.

No projects are proposed or in planning either. CoStar shows zero proposed rooms, and no permit applications or announced hotels turned up in local news or economic development sources. The City of Mauston's 2023 hotel market study found an unmet demand gap, but no developer has acted on it.

That empty pipeline is a real advantage for existing owners. Supply has been flat for five-plus years, and at 283 rooms across five hotels the market does not yet support the $110 to $120+ ADR a new select-service hotel needs in small Wisconsin markets. A new entrant would need bankable occupancy above 60% and ADR near $110 to make today's labor and materials costs work.

Download the underwriting model to test what a new build or an acquisition here would need to pencil.

Demand drivers

Demand blends interstate transient traffic, seasonal outdoor recreation, healthcare and government, and a modest corporate and industrial base. The I-90/94 midpoint location delivers a steady base of overnight stays all year, and the lake and wilderness assets push July occupancy into the mid-to-upper 70% range.

Interstate transient, about 35% of demand

Pass-through traffic on I-90/94 is the biggest driver. Mauston is roughly halfway between Chicago (185 miles) and Minneapolis (200 miles), a natural overnight stop for long-haul drivers, commercial truckers and road-trippers. The interchanges at Mauston and New Lisbon serve the same route, so the combined market captures that traffic in both towns.

Leisure and outdoor recreation, about 28%

Castle Rock Lake is the main leisure draw. Travel Wisconsin ranks it among the state's top fishing destinations, and it pulls boaters, kayakers and water sports visitors from the Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis markets. The Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest in the Midwest, draws birders and photographers, especially during the crane migrations. Buckhorn State Park adds camping and hiking, and the region's ATV trails generate fall and shoulder-season trips. This demand is concentrated from May through September.

Healthcare and government, about 22%

Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, a Wisconsin Department of Health Services facility, is one of Juneau County's largest employers with more than 537 full-time positions. It brings in state employees in training, inspectors, legal professionals working on commitment proceedings, and residents' families. Mile Bluff Medical Center, the regional hospital with 12 locations and an estimated 500 to 750 staff, brings locum physicians, traveling nurses, vendors and patients' families. Together they give the market weekday demand that cushions it against leisure seasonality.

Corporate and industrial, about 10%

Manufacturing in the Mauston industrial park and New Lisbon produces modest but steady business travel from installation crews, inspectors and sales reps. The Juneau County Economic Development Corporation's small business grant program and new affordable housing point to continued, measured economic activity.

Developments with hotel demand impact

No new developments were added to the Upper Midwest Development Tracker for this market; it had no Mauston or Juneau County entries before this report.

Performance

All performance figures come from CoStar's April 8, 2026 report on the Mauston / New Lisbon pool. The market has 283 inventory rooms in 5 hotels; performance is measured on CoStar's 294-room analytic pool of reporting hotels, and the small gap between the two comes from the timing of reporting in CoStar's system.

The 12-month trend

Seasonality

The market is strongly seasonal. Occupancy climbs from a January-February low near 33% to 34% to a July peak near 74%, driven by Castle Rock Lake and outdoor recreation. ADR follows a softer arc, from a winter floor of about $80 to $83 to a summer high near $109 to $110 in June and July. The 2026 figures through February track the prior winter closely, with no sign of weaker demand entering the year. The 12-month occupancy of 51.1% sits well above the year-to-date 34.4% because so much of the year's demand comes in summer.

Against peer markets

Mauston / New Lisbon leads its I-90/94 corridor peers on occupancy. It runs 51.1%, ahead of Tomah (46.9%) and Black River Falls (31.8%). The lead over Tomah stands out because Tomah has about 2.4 times the rooms (670 rooms in 11 hotels): Mauston's small, supply-constrained pool faces less competition.

Mauston's ADR of $94.53 trails both peers (Tomah $97.66, Black River Falls $100.06), which points to rate upside: the market's occupancy strength is not yet showing up in price. Black River Falls is the outlier, with 12-month occupancy of 31.8%, well below its own 10-year typical range of 34.38% to 41.69%, likely from property-level issues or softer demand on that part of the corridor.

Ask for a market report on Tomah, Black River Falls or your own corridor market.

Brands in the market

CoStar tracks five hotels with 283 rooms in the combined market, whether or not they report to STR. Midscale branded hotels dominate, with one upper midscale hotel and one independent. There is no upscale, full-service or extended-stay hotel, which fits a small market built on transient and leisure travel.

Choice Hotels leads with two hotels (Quality Inn and Comfort Inn & Suites) and 120 rooms, 42% of the inventory. BWH Hotels (Best Western) has one hotel with 53 rooms (19%), Wyndham one through AmericInn with 49 rooms (17%), and the independent Lodge at Mauston holds the other 22%. That independent share is high for a market this size: The Lodge was built in 2019 as a non-franchised hotel with conference space, the only real meeting and event venue in the market.

Brands not in the market

Risks

Population decline and a thin corporate base

Mauston's population has fallen -4.7% since the 2020 Census and keeps shrinking by about -1.1% a year, which limits growth in community-based demand. The local corporate base is thin: no significant corporate campuses, regional headquarters or professional services clusters. Weekday occupancy relies on Sand Ridge, Mile Bluff and interstate traffic, all stable but not growing.

Seasonality and the winter trough

January and February occupancy near 33% to 34% is about half the July peak near 74%, a swing that squeezes cash flow through the five-month winter trough from November through March. Any softening of summer leisure, from weather, a downturn or competing destinations, would hit annual RevPAR hard.

An ADR ceiling

ADR of $94.53 is near the top of its 10-year typical range ($79.86 to $95.91), leaving little room for organic rate growth. ADR fell -1.93% even as occupancy improved, which suggests resistance above $95. Midscale product, price-sensitive transient guests and little corporate demand limit pricing power without a catalyst such as a major renovation or a new upper midscale hotel that resets expectations.

Sensitivity to the economy

The 21.7% poverty rate and below-median incomes make the market more exposed to a recession than wealthier leisure markets. In a downturn, discretionary trips to Castle Rock Lake could fall, and state budget limits could cut staffing and visits at Sand Ridge. Interstate demand holds up better because it is need-driven, but it moves with fuel prices and the long-haul trucking cycle.

Wisconsin Dells

Wisconsin Dells, about 15 miles north, is one of the Midwest's top leisure destinations with a large and growing hotel inventory. A big expansion of economy and midscale rooms there could divert price-sensitive travelers who now stop in Mauston. Mauston benefits from being the cheaper alternative to the Dells, so owners should watch Dells pricing and promotions closely.

Outlook

The next 12 to 24 months

The market is set for continued stability through 2026-27. With nothing in the pipeline, the main risk of new competition is off the table. Occupancy of 51.1%, inside its 10-year range and ahead of both peers, reflects a market back at normal levels after the post-COVID surge and correction. The summer 2026 season should bring the usual peak from Castle Rock Lake, with upside if the weather cooperates and leisure travel stays healthy. Mile Bluff's Phase 2 emergency department remodel (2025) should add healthcare visitors as the hospital's capabilities and patient volume grow.

Two to five years

The bigger opportunity is rate. Occupancy can still grow with demand, but ADR of $94.53 trails both peers despite stronger occupancy, so owners have room to sharpen revenue management and capture more pricing power in peak summer months. The city's 2023 market study found unmet demand; if a developer builds an upper midscale hotel (Hampton, Fairfield or Holiday Inn Express), it could reset ADR expectations upward for every hotel in the market.

For investors, the 9.81% cap rate offers an attractive yield for secondary-market exposure. At $61,700 a room, buying costs far less than building new select-service product, typically $100,000 to $140,000 a room in Wisconsin, so an acquisition is the more capital-efficient way in. Marcus & Millichap has historically been the leading broker in this submarket, on both buy-side and sell-side transactions.

Key takeaways

• No pipeline risk. No hotel has opened in at least five years, and nothing is under construction or planned as of April 2026, so demand gains go to the existing hotels.
• Occupancy leader on the corridor. At 51.1%, Mauston / New Lisbon beats Tomah (46.9%) and Black River Falls (31.8%), despite Tomah's much larger inventory.
• ADR has room to grow. ADR of $94.53 trails Tomah ($97.66) and Black River Falls ($100.06). Better revenue management, especially dynamic weekend and summer pricing, is the most direct path to RevPAR growth.
• Buying below replacement cost. A 9.81% cap rate and $61,700 a room compare with $100,000 to $140,000 a room to build, so existing hotels trade at 44 to 62 cents on the replacement dollar.
• Institutional demand cushions the winter. Sand Ridge (537+ full-time staff) and Mile Bluff (500 to 750 employees) provide year-round weekday demand. Strong government per diem rate programs can lift off-season performance.

Own a hotel in Mauston, New Lisbon or along I-90/94? Request a hotel valuation to see what it would sell for, ask for a market report on your own market, or download the underwriting model.

Sources and method. Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR are from CoStar Group market reports, April 2026; the hotel inventory is from a CoStar export. Peer data is from CoStar reports for Tomah, WI and Black River Falls, WI (April 9, 2026). CoStar's analytic pool covers four reporting hotels; one New Lisbon hotel was combined with the Mauston pool to meet CoStar's minimum reporting threshold. Trend figures for 2016-2020 were estimated from CoStar's 10-year range data. Market research is from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Juneau County Economic Development Corporation, Mile Bluff Medical Center, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the City of Mauston Tourism Commission and Business View Magazine. All figures reflect conditions as of April 2026.

This report is for information only. It is not an appraisal or a valuation, and it is not investment advice. Figures come from third-party sources believed reliable but not independently verified.