Portage County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 70,377. Its county seat is Stevens Point.

Portage County comprises the Stevens Point, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Wausau–Stevens Point–Wisconsin Rapids, WI Combined Statistical Area.

History Portage County was created from the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 and organized in 1844. Like the city of Portage, Portage County is named for the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers; Portage County originally included the city of Portage and the portage for which it was named, but boundary changes detached the county from its namesake.

Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.7%) is water.

Major highways Interstate 39 U.S. Highway 10 U.S. Highway 51 Highway 13 (Wisconsin) Highway 22 (Wisconsin) Highway 34 (Wisconsin) Highway 49 (Wisconsin) Highway 54 (Wisconsin) Highway 66 (Wisconsin) Highway 73 (Wisconsin) Highway 161 (Wisconsin)

Railroads Canadian National

Buses Stevens Point Transit

Airport KSTE – Stevens Point Municipal Airport

Adjacent counties Marathon County – north Shawano County – northeast Waupaca County – east Waushara County – southeast Adams County – southwest Wood County – west

Wildlife refuges Buena Vista Marsh Dewey Marsh Mead Wildlife Area Paul J. Olson Wildlife Area

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition +Portage County, Wisconsin – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)56,41359,65663,75264,89762,21298.25%97.15%94.89%92.68%88.40%Black or African American alone (NH)1081522033629030.19%0.25%0.30%0.52%1.28%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)1662362142222420.29%0.38%0.32%0.32%0.34%Asian alone (NH)2497711,5091,9552,2520.43%1.26%2.25%2.79%3.20%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census271216xx0.04%0.02%0.02%Other race alone (NH)371829351420.06%0.03%0.04%0.05%0.20%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census4816831,990xx0.72%0.98%2.83%Hispanic or Latino (any race)4475729671,8532,6200.78%0.93%1.44%2.65%3.72%Total57,42061,40567,18270,01970,377 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, the population was 70,377, the median age was 38.8 years, 19.7% of residents were under the age of 18, and 18.0% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.7 males age 18 and over.

There were 29,138 households in the county, of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 48.2% were married-couple households, 20.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The population density was . There were 31,148 housing units at an average density of ; 6.5% were vacant, 68.4% of occupied units were owner-occupied, and 31.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.7%.

The racial makeup of the county was 89.5% White, 1.3% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.3% from some other race, and 4.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.7% of the population.

63.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 36.6% lived in rural areas.

2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 67,182 people, 25,040 households, and 16,501 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 26,589 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.73% White, 0.32% Black or African American, 0.36% Native American, 2.25% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 1.44% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 32.8% were of Polish, 31.6% German, 5.4% Norwegian and 5.0% Irish ancestry. 93.9% spoke English, 1.7% Spanish, 1.6% Polish and 1.3% Hmong as their first language.

There were 25,040 households, out of which 32.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.10% were married couples living together, 7.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.10% were non-families. 24.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.10% under the age of 18, 16.20% from 18 to 24, 27.70% from 25 to 44, 21.10% from 45 to 64, and 10.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 99.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.80 males.

In 2017, there were 674 births, giving a general fertility rate of 46.4 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the third lowest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties.

Communities

City Stevens Point (county seat)

Villages

Almond Amherst Amherst Junction Junction City Milladore (mostly in Wood County) Nelsonville Park Ridge Plover Rosholt Whiting

Towns

Alban Almond Amherst Belmont Buena Vista Carson Dewey Eau Pleine Grant Hull Lanark Linwood New Hope Pine Grove Plover Sharon Stockton

Census-designated places Bancroft Polonia

Unincorporated communities

Alban Arnott Badger Blaine Casimir Coddington Custer Dopp Ellis Fancher Garfield Heffron (partial) Keene Kellner (partial) Little Waupon Jordan Meehan Mill Creek Community New Hope North Star Peru Rocky Run Stockton Torun West Almond West Bancroft

Ghost town/neighborhood Lake Emily

Politics

Portage County had been reliably Democratic in presidential elections since Dwight Eisenhower's win in 1956. Donald Trump came within 517 votes of winning the county in 2024, and gained support in each election from 2016-2024. The county is a battleground county, that has moved to the right in the Trump-era.

See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Portage County, Wisconsin

References

Further reading Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin Counties of Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Marathon, Lincoln, Oneida, Vilas, Langlade and Shawano. Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1895. Rosholt, Malcolm. Our County, Our Story: Portage County, Wisconsin. Stevens Point: Portage County Board of Supervisors, 1959. A Standard History of Portage County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1919. Kisti's Royal Garden by Walther Lysne and Robin Lysne (Walther's granddaughter), (Santa Cruz, CA: Blue Bone Books, 2023) uses diaries and historical records to tell the true story of Kisti Lysne (1824-1890), her Norwegian family, and the native Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) people in the Portage County, WI area.

External links

Portage County government website Old plat maps: 1876 1895 ca 1904 1915 1930 1947 Portage County map from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Portage County Business Council, Inc. Portage County Historical Society