Wisconsin Counties Map: Click All 72 Counties

How many counties are in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin has 72 counties. 18 states have more, and 31 have fewer.

Wisconsin has 72 counties. Menominee County, created in 1961, has almost the same boundaries as the Menominee Indian Reservation. Dane County holds the capital, Madison, and Milwaukee County has the most people.

How Wisconsin's counties were formed

Wisconsin's first two counties, Brown (around Green Bay) and Crawford (around Prairie du Chien), were created in 1818 when the area was part of the Michigan Territory. Lead mining and farming filled the south first, and logging opened the north later. Menominee County, created in 1961, is the 72nd and newest.

Wisconsin regions and the counties in each

Wisconsin has five regions. The Lake Michigan shore includes Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan and Brown (Green Bay), with Door County's peninsula. Southern Wisconsin includes Dane (Madison), Rock and Walworth. The Driftless Area of the southwest, which glaciers missed, includes Grant, Crawford, Vernon and La Crosse along the Mississippi. Central Wisconsin includes the sandy farm country of Portage, Wood and Marathon (Wausau), and the Northwoods covers Vilas, Oneida, Price, Ashland, Bayfield and Douglas up to Lake Superior.

Notable places on the Wisconsin county map

Timms Hill, the state's highest point at 1,951 feet, is in Price County. The sea caves of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore are in Ashland and Bayfield counties on Lake Superior. The rock formations of the Wisconsin Dells are along the Wisconsin River, and Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, is in Brown County.

Wisconsin counties map: the biggest and smallest

Marathon County is the largest county in Wisconsin, with 1,545 square miles of land, about 3% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Rhode Island. Pepin County is the smallest, at 232 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Pepin County (232 sq mi), Ozaukee County (233 sq mi) and Milwaukee County (242 sq mi).

Which counties in Wisconsin have the most people?

Milwaukee County has the most people, about 924,740 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 16% of everyone in Wisconsin. The three biggest counties together hold 32% of the state's 5,960,975 people. Menominee County has the fewest, about 4,286.

The most crowded is Milwaukee County, with about 3,829 people per square mile. The emptiest is Iron County, with about 8 people per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Madison in?

Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, is in Dane County. Dane County ranks 2nd of 72 by population. Wisconsin is called the Badger State, and it became the 30th state in 1848.

Counties on the Wisconsin border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Wisconsin shares a border with Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota.

How Wisconsin's counties compare with other states

Wisconsin ranks 25th among the 50 states in land area and 20th in population. Its average county covers about 752 square miles and holds about 82,791 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Wisconsin's counties are smaller than usual in size. Small counties pack more names into the same space, so zooming in helps.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Wisconsin

• Milwaukee County is on Lake Michigan in the southeast.
• Door County is the thumb-shaped peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan.
• Douglas and Bayfield counties line Lake Superior in the north.

With 72 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the Wisconsin county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 72 Wisconsin counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Wisconsin geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Midwest states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in wisconsin, and check milwaukee parental choice program to see whether a program may help pay for Wisconsin history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.