Dodge County, WI

County Profile

88,742 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Dodge County, WI.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

69out of 100
Area Score
Top 15% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 7% of 1,463 counties measured81
Schools1,064th of 1,377 counties measured29
Growth909th of 1,453 counties measured43
Housing affordabilityTop 4% of 1,462 counties measured89
Climate1,262nd of 1,463 counties measured57
Physical resilienceTop 2% of 1,463 counties measured95
Access745th of 1,463 counties measured81
Economic stabilityTop 21% of 1,463 counties measured79
The quick read

Dodge County ranks in the top 7% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.7% and median household income of $75,929.

In the public schools here, 38% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.6 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 234 units authorized over the past twelve months, 36% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
88,742
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,929
Top 24% nationally
Density
101/sq mi
875.7 sq mi of land
Median age
43.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Dodge County
Wisconsin
Micro area
Nearest major airport
MSN
38 mi · Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld
Median home value
$231,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.7%, lower than in 95% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 3.2% over the past year, to 50,501 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$64,33864th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$57,55450th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,5752024 ACS 5-Year$75,929Top 24%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$8662024 ACS 5-Year$38,304Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$55,513Bottom 47%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.4%Top 16%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.9 minBottom 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year20.3%Bottom 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year81.0%76th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202650,501Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+3.1%Top 18%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+3.2%Top 4%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202651,89061st percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year78.0%Top 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.0%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 33%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.7%Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year8.6%51st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.21.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.7% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202476k66k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,929 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

38% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 39% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.6 students for every full-time teacher across 34 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
38
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.6
across 34 of them
Math proficiency
37.9%
Bottom 18% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
39.2%
Bottom 18% in Wisconsin
The 12 largest of 38 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Beaver Dam HighBeaver Dam Unified School District1,03115.226%38%
Watertown HighWatertown Unified School District1,01215.128%32%
Waupun Area Junior/Senior High SchoolWaupun School District83215.422%27%
Beaver Dam MiddleBeaver Dam Unified School District63313.235%35%
Mayville Junior-Senior HighMayville School District48614.332%47%
Mayville ElementaryMayville School District38812.943%40%
Horicon Elementary SchoolHoricon School District37214.362%62%
Prairie View ElementaryBeaver Dam Unified School District33712.061%47%
Jefferson ElementaryBeaver Dam Unified School District32810.647%37%
Meadow View PrimaryWaupun School District32416.2——
Dodgeland ElementaryDodgeland School District31513.142%37%
Douglas ElementaryWatertown Unified School District31111.150%39%

40.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Wisconsin’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin is up 59% over five years, and up 4.9% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,422 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.48% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,080, some 9% above the $988 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,080 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,200 a year, about 57% of the median household income here of $75,929.

The typical renter household here spends 23% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $988 a month.

A median home at $231,900 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $90,842, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
22.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,080
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$988
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$231,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Dodge County’s median household income of $75,929, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2+4.9%73rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2+59.2%95th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2+110.3%77th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 48%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year71.3%34th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±962024 ACS 5-Year38,52478th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$873Top 38%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,454Top 43%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,080Top 38%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$282024 ACS 5-Year$988Bottom 32%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,7142024 ACS 5-Year$231,90067th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$602024 ACS 5-Year$3,42289th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,8302024 ACS 5-Year$90,842Top 23%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year1.48%89th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year22.9%Top 14%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1582024 ACS 5-Year1,24378th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.2%54th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%5th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2352024 ACS 5-Year2,61462nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

43/ 100
Ranks 909 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 3 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, to 88,635 in 2024.

Permit activity rose in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025. Over the twelve months since, it has turned the other way — 36% below the prior year.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Dodge County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $64,338, above the $57,554 of households that moved out.

At 2.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
234
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Bottom 47% nationally
Year over year
−36%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
29.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202489k89k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
19%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$64,338
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$57,554
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Jefferson County, WI 457 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Fond du Lac County, WI 413 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Waukesha County, WI 354 people · 9.7% of arrivals
  4. Washington County, WI 353 people · 9.7% of arrivals
  5. Dane County, WI 313 people · 8.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Fond du Lac County, WI 507 people · 13% of departures
  2. Jefferson County, WI 433 people · 12% of departures
  3. Dane County, WI 365 people · 9.7% of departures
  4. Washington County, WI 308 people · 8.2% of departures
  5. Waukesha County, WI 279 people · 7.4% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025375153
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+145%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 11°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 28.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FOND DU LAC CO AP, 25.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year542024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals28.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals11°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals52°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
54
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

95 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 42% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 98% of measured US counties.

HailModerate
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, strong wind, heat wave, inland flooding, winter weather, landslide, wildfire, drought, ice storm, earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Dodge County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.8 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 12.5 per 100,000 residents in Dodge County.

Homicide
1.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
12.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
18.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Dodge County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld at 38 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year88.9%Top 34%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle38 miBottom 47%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year8.4%Top 34%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN38 mi9,006 ft
Wittman RgnlOSH39 mi8,002 ft
Appleton IntlATW58 mi8,003 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Dodge County, WI

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.