Columbia County, Wisconsin

• White (non-Hispanic) 52,592 90.3%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2,385 4.1%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 949 1.6%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 458 0.8%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 1,533 2.6%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 212 0.4%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 143 0.2%

• Under 18 11,972 20.5%
• 18–24 4,113 7.1%
• 25–44 14,371 24.7%
• 45–64 16,394 28.1%
• 65 and over 11,422 19.6%

Median household income

$85,096

90% interval $79,656–$90,536

+$7,539 vs WI · 8th of 72

Below poverty line

6.7%

90% interval 5.3%–8.1%

−3.6 pp vs WI · 66th of 72

Unemployment (12-mo)

3.1%

−0.15 pp vs. state

County GDP

$4.3B

0.94% of state

Avg. annual pay

$55,108

Establishments

1,788

• Manufacturing 5,028 23.1%
• Education & health services 4,266 19.6%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 4,180 19.2%
• Leisure & hospitality 2,536 11.7%
• Professional & business services 1,445 6.6%
• Public administration 1,326 6.1%
• Other services 600 2.8%
• Information 40 0.2%
• Construction 34 0.2%

The sectors listed cover 89.4% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

76.7%

+8.9 pp vs WI · 37th of 72

Median gross rent

$978

−$109 vs WI · 23rd of 72

Owner-occupied

18,520

Renter-occupied

5,638

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 62% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Manufacturing, $73,274/yr) pays 3.6× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $20,198/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 12 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Republican 17,988 51.6%
• Democratic 16,388 47.0%
• Other / third-party 467 1.3%

• Spanish 1,155 2.1%
• German or other West Germanic 675 1.2%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 92 0.2%
• Tagalog 64 0.1%
• Chinese 57 0.1%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 36 0.1%
• Vietnamese 16 0.0%
• Arabic 16 0.0%
• Korean 8 0.0%

Households

24,158

Family households

15,819

65.5% of households

Married couples w/ children

3,943

24.9% of families

Single-mother families

1,163

7.4% of families

Veterans

3,635

7.9% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 8,410 14.4%
• Mainline Protestant 7,155 12.2%
• Catholic 6,992 12.0%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 321 0.5%
• Orthodox 12 0.0%

Health insured

95.0%

±0.9 pp

Uninsured

5.0%

±0.9 pp

42nd of 72

With a disability

11.9%

±0.9 pp

55th of 72

Bachelor's or higher

26.0%

±1.4 pp

−7.4 pp vs WI · 31st of 72

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

5.9%

90% interval 5.3%–6.5% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

Columbia County Circuit Court (5th Judicial District)

Judges

31 (Circuit Court judges aggregated across all counties in each administrative Judicial District (Wis. Stat. § 753.06); vintage 2026 wicourts.gov. Note: WI's Circuit Court is per-county (72 trial venues); the 9 active numbered Judicial Districts are administrative chief-judge regions, not jurisdictions. Municipal Court judges (limited jurisdiction: city ordinances) are separate and not counted here.)

Court seats

Portage

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

12

25.92 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

8