Brown County, Wisconsin Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Brown County, Wisconsin, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Brown County, Wisconsin. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Brown County, Wisconsin. The estimated population of Brown County, Wisconsin is 267,364 people, with a median age of 37.6.

We can look at the total population in Brown County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
267,364
+1.83%
+3.63%
2020
262,559
+0.46%
-
2019
261,368
+0.61%
-
2018
259,786
+0.69%
-
2017
258,004
- -

Population of Brown County, Wisconsin by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
79.3%
81.6%
-2.82%
Black/African American
2.6%
2.2%
+18.18%
Native
1.8%
2.2%
-18.18%
Hispanic
9.3%
8.3%
+12.05%
Asian
3.2%
3.1%
+3.23%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
0.00%
Two Or More Races
3.6%
2.5%
+44.00%
Other
0.3%
0.2%
+50.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Brown County, Wisconsin by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 37.6 +0.27% 36.8 +0.55% 38.4 +0.26%
2020 37.5 +0.27% 36.6 0% 38.3 +0.52%
2019 37.4 +0.54% 36.6 +0.83% 38.1 0%
2018 37.2 +0.54% 36.3 +0.55% 38.1 +0.26%
2017 37 - 36.1 - 38 -

The median age of Brown County, Wisconsin gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 17,562 +1.32% 17,361 -1.34% 17,789 17,127
10 to 19 17,696 +4.22% 16,758 +4.44% 18,417 17,510
20 to 29 17,797 -0.89% 17,169 +1.85% 17,637 17,488
30 to 39 17,838 +3.59% 17,383 +2.58% 18,471 17,835
40 to 49 16,256 +1.72% 15,688 -0.02% 16,521 15,671
50 to 59 18,418 -1.79% 18,372 +1.04% 18,085 18,560
60 to 69 12,601 +18.45% 14,112 +4.43% 15,078 14,740
70+ 9,852 +14.86% 13,141 +13.86% 11,387 15,048

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Brown County, Wisconsin is $68,799.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Brown County.

  • Under 25
    $42,530.00
  • 25 to 44
    $77,541.00
  • 45 to 64
    $82,562.00
  • 65 and over
    $47,188.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Brown County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Brown County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Brown County, Wisconsin is currently $88,785.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

6.05% of households in Brown County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Brown County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    14.24%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    21.22%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    18.98%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    14.80%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    18.05%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    6.66%
  • $200,000 or more
    6.05%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Brown County is $36,089.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Brown County by the total population of Brown County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Brown County, Wisconsin, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Brown County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    10.97%
  • Bachelor's degree
    35.06%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    10.29%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    41.06%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.63%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Brown County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Brown County over the age of 16 is 211,483.

Of those people, a total of 68.70% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Brown County is 66.60%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 14,962 59.80% 9.20%
20 to 24 years 17,191 82.30% 5.40%
25 to 29 years 17,934 89.60% 2.10%
30 to 34 years 17,721 86.70% 2.10%
35 to 44 years 34,535 86.70% 2.10%
45 to 54 years 33,611 87.40% 2.70%
55 to 59 years 19,276 80.20% 1.30%
60 to 64 years 16,269 60.90% 3.00%
65 to 74 years 24,110 21.80% 2.20%
75 years and over 15,874 4.60% 0.30%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Brown County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 181,265 68.40% 2.50%
Black or African American 5,019 57.10% 10.70%
American Indian and Alaska Native 4,205 70.10% 10.30%
Asian 6,229 71.70% 1.60%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 29 65.50% 0.00%
Other 5,644 77.10% 6.30%
Two or more races 9,092 71.90% 2.90%
Hispanic or Latino 15,468 75.30% 4.40%
Not Hispanic or Latino 175,467 68.20% 2.50%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Brown County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Brown County is 140,852, with median earnings of $41,520.00.

Women in Brown County, Wisconsin earning approximately 68.70% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 140,852 $41,520.00
Male 73,265 $49,447.00
Female 67,587 $33,953.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 13,247 $69,746.00
Business and Financial 8,139 $58,250.00
Computer and Mathematical 4,615 $71,122.00
Architecture and Engineering 2,857 $72,046.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 979 $51,715.00
Community and Social Service 2,650 $43,968.00
Legal 951 $60,179.00
Educational and Library 7,554 $46,084.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 2,551 $40,064.00
Healthcare Practitioners 8,930 $58,316.00
Healthcare Support 4,861 $24,186.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 1,662 $36,230.00
Law Enforcement 731 $71,440.00
Food Preparation and Serving 7,978 $12,741.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 3,782 $21,920.00
Personal Care and Service 3,538 $20,020.00
Sales 14,145 $39,300.00
Office and Administrative Support 15,936 $35,864.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 1,057 $30,947.00
Construction and Extraction 5,816 $45,654.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 4,208 $47,917.00
Production 13,654 $41,521.00
Transportation and Material Moving 4,624 $40,470.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 7,989 $78,385.00 5,258 $59,359.00
Business and Financial 3,899 $64,988.00 4,240 $51,528.00
Computer and Mathematical 3,462 $74,694.00 1,153 $55,265.00
Architecture and Engineering 2,354 $73,583.00 503 $55,809.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 405 $54,485.00 574 $46,250.00
Community and Social Service 607 $51,581.00 2,043 $42,663.00
Legal 433 $98,859.00 518 $49,127.00
Educational and Library 2,132 $56,379.00 5,422 $41,799.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 1,136 $42,669.00 1,415 $30,668.00
Healthcare Practitioners 1,873 $96,625.00 7,057 $55,000.00
Healthcare Support 686 $25,972.00 4,175 $23,264.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 1,251 $45,157.00 411 $27,992.00
Law Enforcement 628 $73,075.00 103 $32,250.00
Food Preparation and Serving 2,980 $12,538.00 4,998 $12,860.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 2,210 $28,938.00 1,572 $15,911.00
Personal Care and Service 910 $21,600.00 2,628 $19,225.00
Sales 7,030 $51,582.00 7,115 $29,501.00
Office and Administrative Support 3,962 $40,492.00 11,974 $34,956.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 592 $34,241.00 465 $8,281.00
Construction and Extraction 5,705 $46,058.00 111 $20,982.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 4,115 $47,788.00 93 $50,369.00
Production 10,134 $45,336.00 3,520 $29,446.00
Transportation and Material Moving 4,085 $42,521.00 539 $37,987.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 107,772 households in Brown County, with an average household size of 2.41 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 68,174 families in Brown County with an average family size of 3 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 52,392 5,530 10,252 39,598
Average Household Size 3.08 3.2 3.07 1.25
Total Families 52,392 5,530 10,252 0
Average Household Size 3.06 2.74 2.78 0

Poverty

Of the 68,174 families in Brown County, 6.60% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Brown County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 112,253 housing units in Brown County, Wisconsin.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 107,772 96.01%
Vacant 4,481 3.99%

33.34% of the total 112,253 housing units in Brown County are rental units. This is approximately 37,422 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 69,327 are occupied by the owner - or 61.76% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Brown County is $862.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Brown County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    1,023
  • Less than $500
    2,300
  • $500 to $999
    24,022
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    9,582
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    1,142
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    120
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    84
  • $3,000 or more
    172

Property Value

The median value of a property in Brown County is $193,500.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Brown County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    1,929
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    4,847
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    13,543
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    16,089
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    18,684
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    10,881
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    2,843
  • $1,000,000 or more
    511

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Brown County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Brown County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    11,529
  • 1940 to 1949
    4,634
  • 1950 to 1959
    11,004
  • 1960 to 1969
    11,678
  • 1970 to 1979
    17,969
  • 1980 to 1989
    13,398
  • 1990 to 1999
    18,453
  • 2000 to 2009
    14,670
  • 2010 to 2013
    8,862
  • 2014 or later
    56

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Brown County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    5,272
  • 1 vehicle available
    34,707
  • 2 vehicles available
    45,865
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    21,928

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Brown County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Brown County that commute to work in a particular way.

18.6 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Brown County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    4,604
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    17,460
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    25,685
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    32,077
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    21,706
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    6,858
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    8,200
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    1,900
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    2,552
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    3,384
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    1,809
  • 90 or more minutes
    1,594

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Brown County, Wisconsin in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Brown County, Wisconsin

We have data for 17 places in Brown County, Wisconsin. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.