Washington County, Wisconsin Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Washington 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 Washington County, Wisconsin. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Washington County, Wisconsin. The estimated population of Washington County, Wisconsin is 136,300 people, with a median age of 43.2.

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

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
136,300
+0.57%
+1.74%
2020
135,529
+0.45%
-
2019
134,925
+0.29%
-
2018
134,535
+0.42%
-
2017
133,967
 - -

Population of Washington 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
92%
93.3%
 -1.39%
Black/African American
1.3%
1.1%
 +18.18%
Native
0.2%
0.2%
 0.00%
Hispanic
3.4%
3.1%
 +9.68%
Asian
1.4%
1.2%
 +16.67%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
1.6%
1.2%
 +33.33%
Other
0.1%
0%
 0.00%

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 Washington 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 43.2 0% 42.3 +0.48% 44 -0.68%
2020 43.2 0% 42.1 0% 44.3 0%
2019 43.2 +0.7% 42.1 +0.96% 44.3 +0.68%
2018 42.9 +0.7% 41.7 +0.72% 44 +0.23%
2017 42.6 - 41.4 - 43.9 -

The median age of Washington 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 7,943 -5.5% 7,833 -6.86% 7,511 7,299
10 to 19 9,004 -0.04% 8,551 +3.78% 8,987 8,865
20 to 29 6,947 +2.91% 6,342 +2.83% 7,151 6,523
30 to 39 8,401 +1.57% 7,782 +2.98% 8,533 8,009
40 to 49 8,965 -4.86% 9,428 -11.51% 8,530 8,381
50 to 59 11,335 +1.25% 11,058 -0.63% 11,477 10,988
60 to 69 7,744 +10.12% 8,141 +8.27% 8,557 8,828
70+ 6,219 +17.6% 8,274 +11.83% 7,388 9,273

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Washington County, Wisconsin is $85,574.00.

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 Washington County.

  • Under 25
    $47,099.00
  • 25 to 44
    $92,934.00
  • 45 to 64
    $105,710.00
  • 65 and over
    $56,108.00

Average Household Income

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

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Washington 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 Washington County, Wisconsin is currently $102,535.00.

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.

8.44% of households in Washington 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 Washington County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    8.97%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    17.08%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    17.72%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    15.63%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    22.75%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    9.41%
  • $200,000 or more
    8.44%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Washington County is $42,585.00.

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

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Washington 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 Washington 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
    12.53%
  • Bachelor's degree
    34.50%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    10.94%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    39.70%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.33%

Employment

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

The total population of Washington County over the age of 16 is 110,486.

Of those people, a total of 69.80% 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 Washington County is 67.80%.

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 6,848 62.50% 8.50%
20 to 24 years 7,107 91.70% 5.00%
25 to 29 years 6,567 87.20% 3.70%
30 to 34 years 7,644 91.60% 3.60%
35 to 44 years 17,084 90.30% 1.10%
45 to 54 years 19,122 92.10% 2.00%
55 to 59 years 12,068 83.50% 1.30%
60 to 64 years 9,387 64.10% 2.90%
65 to 74 years 14,802 26.70% 5.40%
75 years and over 9,857 5.00% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Washington 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 104,195 69.30% 2.50%
Black or African American 1,291 71.50% 4.40%
American Indian and Alaska Native 268 79.10% 2.40%
Asian 1,550 68.70% 3.70%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 23 78.30% 0.00%
Other 858 83.20% 9.50%
Two or more races 2,301 84.30% 10.50%
Hispanic or Latino 2,988 79.10% 10.30%
Not Hispanic or Latino 103,151 69.30% 2.50%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Washington 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 Washington County is 74,889, with median earnings of $50,649.00.

Women in Washington County, Wisconsin earning approximately 68.40% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 74,889 $50,649.00
Male 39,435 $59,962.00
Female 35,454 $41,035.00

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 9,357 $82,242.00
Business and Financial 4,939 $74,942.00
Computer and Mathematical 2,157 $78,551.00
Architecture and Engineering 2,292 $83,205.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 361 $78,011.00
Community and Social Service 792 $53,773.00
Legal 381 $62,625.00
Educational and Library 4,161 $50,905.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 1,385 $46,302.00
Healthcare Practitioners 5,377 $66,542.00
Healthcare Support 2,129 $25,016.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 377 $57,007.00
Law Enforcement 871 $63,818.00
Food Preparation and Serving 2,677 $11,602.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 1,755 $25,853.00
Personal Care and Service 1,686 $18,202.00
Sales 7,365 $41,039.00
Office and Administrative Support 8,464 $40,456.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 330 $40,886.00
Construction and Extraction 3,368 $57,021.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 2,593 $53,239.00
Production 7,873 $47,511.00
Transportation and Material Moving 2,156 $46,550.00

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 5,703 $92,052.00 3,654 $63,973.00
Business and Financial 2,351 $84,442.00 2,588 $60,500.00
Computer and Mathematical 1,606 $82,721.00 551 $63,348.00
Architecture and Engineering 1,979 $80,710.00 313 $110,107.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 171 $77,898.00 190 $80,100.00
Community and Social Service 223 $59,028.00 569 $52,514.00
Legal 89 $42,092.00 292 $63,250.00
Educational and Library 1,186 $62,344.00 2,975 $44,036.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 569 $58,800.00 816 $41,847.00
Healthcare Practitioners 755 $78,646.00 4,622 $61,673.00
Healthcare Support 246 $22,222.00 1,883 $25,734.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 290 $60,539.00 87 $27,688.00
Law Enforcement 741 $67,969.00 130 $62,786.00
Food Preparation and Serving 943 $20,026.00 1,734 $10,974.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 1,066 $28,468.00 689 $15,483.00
Personal Care and Service 196 $6,688.00 1,490 $19,829.00
Sales 3,763 $54,368.00 3,602 $34,069.00
Office and Administrative Support 1,776 $53,571.00 6,688 $38,464.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 275 $41,427.00 55 $3,098.00
Construction and Extraction 3,303 $58,009.00 65 $38,458.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 2,447 $55,146.00 146 $28,173.00
Production 6,125 $50,113.00 1,748 $36,735.00
Transportation and Material Moving 1,975 $47,163.00 181 $39,125.00

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 55,807 households in Washington County, with an average household size of 2.43 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 38,883 families in Washington County with an average family size of 2.89 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 32,247 2,331 4,305 16,924
Average Household Size 2.97 2.9 2.74 1.25
Total Families 32,247 2,331 4,305 0
Average Household Size 2.96 2.57 2.53 0

Poverty

Of the 38,883 families in Washington County, 2.70% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Washington 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 57,985 housing units in Washington County, Wisconsin.

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

Total Percentage
Occupied 55,807 96.24%
Vacant 2,178 3.76%

21.95% of the total 57,985 housing units in Washington County are rental units. This is approximately 12,726 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 42,764 are occupied by the owner - or 73.75% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Washington County is $967.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Washington 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
    317
  • Less than $500
    592
  • $500 to $999
    6,351
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    3,956
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    1,258
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    435
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    51
  • $3,000 or more
    83

Property Value

The median value of a property in Washington County is $259,000.00.

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

  • Less than $50,000
    1,014
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    1,421
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    3,696
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    6,857
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    14,277
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    11,903
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    3,127
  • $1,000,000 or more
    469

Property Age

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

  • 1939 or earlier
    7,040
  • 1940 to 1949
    1,286
  • 1950 to 1959
    3,494
  • 1960 to 1969
    4,867
  • 1970 to 1979
    10,281
  • 1980 to 1989
    6,011
  • 1990 to 1999
    11,405
  • 2000 to 2009
    9,909
  • 2010 to 2013
    3,671
  • 2014 or later
    21

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 Washington County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    1,883
  • 1 vehicle available
    15,287
  • 2 vehicles available
    24,673
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    13,964

Commuting to Work

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

25.2 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Washington 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
    1,924
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    8,519
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    8,068
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    8,601
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    8,587
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    5,380
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    10,114
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    3,916
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    3,942
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    5,727
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    1,896
  • 90 or more minutes
    926

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Washington 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 Washington County, Wisconsin

We have data for 14 places in Washington County, Wisconsin. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.