Marathon County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 138,013. Its county seat is Wausau. It was founded in 1850, created from a portion of Portage County. At that time the county stretched to the northern border with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is named after the battlefield at Marathon, Greece.
Marathon County comprises the Wausau, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Wausau–Stevens Point–Wisconsin Rapids, WI Combined Statistical Area.
Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (2.0%) is water. It is Wisconsin's largest county by land area and fourth-largest by total area.
The Marathon County Park Commission has posted a geographical marker that identifies the spot (45°N, 90°W) of the exact center of the northern half of the Western Hemisphere, meaning that it is a quarter of the way around the world from the Prime Meridian and halfway from the Equator to the North Pole.
Major highways Interstate 39 US Highway 51 Wisconsin Highway 13 Wisconsin Highway 29 Wisconsin Highway 34 Wisconsin Highway 49 Wisconsin Highway 52 Wisconsin Highway 97 Wisconsin Highway 98 Wisconsin Highway 107 Wisconsin Highway 153
Railroads Canadian National Watco
Buses Metro Ride
Airports KAUW – Wausau Downtown Airport KCWA – Central Wisconsin Airport
Adjacent counties
Lincoln County – north Langlade County – northeast Shawano County – east Waupaca County – southeast Portage County – south Wood County – south Clark County – west Taylor County – northwest
Natural wildlife refuges Mead Wildlife Area
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Marathon County, Wisconsin – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)110,269111,927117,517121,007118,78399.10%96.99%93.39%90.26%86.07%Black or African American alone (NH)35873378201,1410.03%0.08%0.27%0.61%0.83%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)3274774125665460.29%0.41%0.33%0.42%0.40%Asian alone (NH)1842,4295,7037,1078,4310.17%2.10%4.53%5.30%6.11%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 Census182529xx0.01%0.02%0.02%Other race alone (NH)1741046653400.16%0.01%0.04%0.05%0.25%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census8221,4814,290xx0.65%1.10%3.11%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2814709792,9924,4530.25%0.41%0.78%2.23%3.23%Total111,270115,400125,834134,063138,013 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 138,013. The population density was . There were 59,828 housing units at an average density of .
The median age was 41.1 years, 22.6% of residents were under the age of 18, and 18.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.9 males age 18 and over.
There were 56,517 households in the county, of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.4% were married-couple households, 18.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
Of the 59,828 housing units, 5.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 72.1% were owner-occupied and 27.9% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.3%.
The racial makeup of the county was 86.9% White, 0.9% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 6.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.3% from some other race, and 4.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.2% of the population.
56.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 43.4% lived in rural areas.
2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 125,834 people, 47,702 households, and 33,868 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 50,360 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.84% White, 0.28% Black or African American, 0.35% Native American, 4.54% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races, and 0.72% from two or more races. 0.78% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 52.6% were of German and 13.6% Polish ancestry. 92.9% spoke English, 3.4% Hmong, 1.1% German and 1.1% Spanish as their first language.
There were 47,702 households, out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.90% were married couples living together, 7.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.00% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.80% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 29.50% from 25 to 44, 22.50% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 97.40 males.
Libraries The Marathon County Public Library (MCPL) is headquartered in downtown Wausau. There are eight branch libraries, in Athens, Edgar, Hatley, Marathon City, Mosinee, Rothschild, Spencer, and Stratford.
Recreation
County parks
Amco County Park Big Eau Pleine County Park Big Rapids County Park Bluegill Bay County Park Cherokee County Park Courthouse Square D.C. Everest County Park Dells of the Eau Claire County Park Duane L. Corbin Shooting Range Park Library Park Marathon Park Mission Lake County Park Mountain-Bay State Park Trail Reitbrock Geographical Marker Rib Falls County Park Sunny Vale County Park
Snowmobile trails There are over 884 miles of groomed snowmobile trails in Marathon County maintained by 29 area snowmobile clubs.
Communities
Cities Abbotsford (mostly in Clark County) Colby (mostly in Clark County) Marshfield (mostly in Wood County) Mosinee Schofield Wausau (county seat)
Villages
Athens Birnamwood (mostly in Shawano County) Dorchester (mostly in Clark County) Edgar Elderon Fenwood Hatley Kronenwetter Maine Marathon City Rib Mountain Rothschild Spencer Stratford Unity (partly in Clark County) Weston
Towns
Bergen Berlin Bern Bevent Brighton Cassel Cleveland Day Easton Eau Pleine Elderon Emmet Frankfort Franzen Green Valley Guenther Halsey Hamburg Harrison Hewitt Holton Hull Johnson Knowlton Marathon McMillan Mosinee Norrie Plover Reid Rib Falls Rietbrock Ringle Spencer Stettin Texas Wausau Weston Wien
Census-designated places Knowlton Rib Mountain
Unincorporated communities
Ashley Bradley Cherokee Corinth Dancy Emmerich Evergreen Gad (partial) Galloway Glandon Granite Heights Halder Hamburg Hogarty Holt Johnson Kalinke Little Chicago Little Eau Claire Little Rose Mann March Rapids McMillan Milan Moon Mount View Naugart Norrie Nutterville Pike Lake Poniatowski Rangeline Rib Falls Ringle Rocky Corners Rozellville Schnappsville Snell Shantytown Sunset Swan Taegesville Weber Wien Wuertsburg
Ghost towns/neighborhoods Callon Staadts Stettin Ziegler
Government and politics
Government In the United States Senate, Marathon County is represented by Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin. The county is in Wisconsin's 7th congressional district, represented by Tom Tiffany. Marathon County is in Wisconsin's 23rd Senate district and Wisconsin's 29th Senate district districts (mostly the latter), represented by Jesse James and Cory Tomczyk, respectively, and Wisconsin's 69th Assembly district, Wisconsin's 85th Assembly district, Wisconsin's 86th Assembly district, and Wisconsin's 87th Assembly district (mostly the latter three), represented by Karen Hurd, Patrick Snyder, John Spiros, and Brent Jacobson, respectively. The county is in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals's third district and the ninth Wisconsin circuit court (of which it is the seat). At the local level, Marathon County has several elected officials and is governed by a 38-member county board, elected by district.
Politics At founding, Marathon was reliably Democratic, attributed to its large population of German Catholic immigrants, who had many grievances against the Republican Party.Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 381-382, 414 In 1896, the Democratic Party's adoption of the populist movement infuriated the local anti-free silver Germans, and Marathon broke for the Republican Party for the first time since formation.Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 384 Deeply progressive, the county saw the Democratic Party's perceived abandonment of progressive values as an offense, and like the state became a Republican stronghold for the next four election cycles.Sundquist, James; Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years, p. 526 Marathon's semi-urban but largely rural and heavily German Catholic population, which reflected the demographics of the state, led to it eventually becoming one of the most reliable bellwether counties in the state, voting for the candidate that won the state in every election between 1892 and 1996 (with two exceptions: 1928, when the losing candidate was a Catholic, and 1940, when many German Americans turned sharply away from Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was seen as Anglophilic). Starting in 2000, Marathon County began following the trend of many other rural counties, breaking for George W. Bush even as Wisconsin remained a safely blue state and continuing to shift rightward (with the exception of Barack Obama's 2008 landslide). Since 2008, Republicans have gained ground in the county in every election cycle even as the state has flip-flopped between Republicans and Democrats. Marathon County's Republican swing has continued locally as well - it has not voted for a Democrat at the state level since 2006, and Republicans won the mayoralty of Wausau in 2024.
Education School districts include: - Text list
Abbotsford School District Antigo School District Athens School District Auburndale School District Colby School District D.C. Everest Area School District Edgar School District Marathon City School District Marshfield School District Medford Area School District Merrill Area School District Mosinee School District Rosholt School District Spencer School District Stratford School District Wausau School District Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District
See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Marathon County, Wisconsin Blackberry Hill
References
External links
Marathon County Marathon County map from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Plat maps: ca. 1881 1901 1905-1917 ca. 1912 ca. 1920 1930 Libraries and Schools in Marathon and Lincoln Counties - Digital collection of historic images and texts on schools and libraries in Marathon and Lincoln Counties