Douglas County, WI

County Profile

44,229 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Douglas 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.

58out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 45% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 35% of 1,463 counties measured62
Schools1,134th of 1,377 counties measured24
Growth1,123rd of 1,453 counties measured35
Housing affordabilityTop 30% of 1,462 counties measured78
Climate1,444th of 1,463 counties measured47
Physical resilienceTop 22% of 1,463 counties measured78
Access832nd of 1,463 counties measured78
Economic stabilityTop 29% of 1,463 counties measured74
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $75,099, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 37% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.7 students for every teacher.

88 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 13% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
44,229
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,099
Top 26% nationally
Density
34/sq mi
1,304.3 sq mi of land
Median age
42.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Douglas County
Wisconsin
Metro area
Nearest major airport
DLH
30 mi · Duluth Intl
Median home value
$205,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% — higher than in all but 47% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.1% over the past year, to 21,607 employed residents.

28% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 72% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$58,49349th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$52,61332nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,6092024 ACS 5-Year$75,099Top 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,2482024 ACS 5-Year$39,586Top 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$53,201Bottom 38%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.0%Top 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.4 minTop 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.4%Top 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.0%39th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202621,607Bottom 34%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.7%Bottom 40%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.1%Top 19%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202622,55334th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year80.1%Top 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year1.0%86th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 30%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.2%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.1%55th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.82.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% 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

202120222023202475k60k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,099 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.

Largest occupations — Duluth, MN-WI

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides5,660$36,390
Registered Nurses4,410$96,940
Retail Salespersons3,490$34,650
Cashiers3,290$33,020
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,910$29,260
General and Operations Managers2,690$85,930

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

37% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 39% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.7 students for every full-time teacher across 13 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
15
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.7
across 13 of them
Math proficiency
37.1%
Bottom 15% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
39.3%
Bottom 21% in Wisconsin
The 12 largest of 15 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Superior HighSuperior School District1,25615.019%39%
Superior MiddleSuperior School District88813.728%31%
Northwestern ElementaryMaple School District51517.258%43%
Northern Lights ElementarySuperior School District45313.330%32%
Northwestern HighMaple School District37215.537%37%
Cooper ElementarySuperior School District36314.057%42%
Great Lakes ElementarySuperior School District34816.642%45%
Northwestern MiddleMaple School District28918.161%47%
Bryant ElementarySuperior School District28316.662%52%
Four Corners ElementarySuperior School District20016.752%52%
Solon Springs SchoolSolon Springs School District17310.222%32%
Superior Community PreschoolSuperior School District10954.5——

23.5% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 13% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 87.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area is up 49% over five years, and up 4.0% 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 $2,599 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.26% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,232, some 36% above the $909 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,232 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $49,300 a year, about 66% of the median household income here of $75,099.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $909 a month.

A median home at $205,800 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $92,948, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
87.2

Prices here run about 13% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,232
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$909
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$205,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Douglas County’s median household income of $75,099, 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
Cost of living indexthe Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure202387.2Top 4%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.0%61st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+48.7%66th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+95.1%50th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.2Top 34%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.9%37th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±672024 ACS 5-Year23,15468th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$978Bottom 48%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,689Bottom 38%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,232Bottom 44%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$522024 ACS 5-Year$909Bottom 43%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,3932024 ACS 5-Year$205,80058th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$632024 ACS 5-Year$2,59979th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,7712024 ACS 5-Year$92,948Top 20%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year1.26%80th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year27.6%Top 48%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1962024 ACS 5-Year2,62588th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year11.3%83rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.9%24th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2662024 ACS 5-Year3,99474th 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

35/ 100
Ranks 1,123 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 44,276 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 76 units authorized in 2025, 31% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 88 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Douglas County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $58,493, above the $52,613 of households that moved out.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
88
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 37% nationally
Year over year
−13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202444k44k
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
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
81%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$58,493
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,613
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. St. Louis County, MN 580 people · 34% of arrivals
  2. Carlton County, MN 83 people · 4.9% of arrivals
  3. Bayfield County, WI 56 people · 3.3% of arrivals
  4. Hennepin County, MN 48 people · 2.8% of arrivals
  5. Washburn County, WI 33 people · 2.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. St. Louis County, MN 474 people · 28% of departures
  2. Carlton County, MN 79 people · 4.7% of departures
  3. Bayfield County, WI 77 people · 4.6% of departures
  4. Hennepin County, MN 69 people · 4.1% of departures
  5. Ramsey County, MN 42 people · 2.5% 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

20202021202220232024202512076
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−21%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 78°F and January a low of 2°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 31.2 inches, including 90.2 inches of snow.

-10°10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DULUTH, 29.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals31.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals90.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals2°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals78°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals56°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

78 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, inland flooding and heat wave, with cold wave alone responsible for 49% of it. cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 78% of measured US counties.

LightningModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

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.

Douglas County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.2 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 12.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 12.8 per 100,000 residents in Douglas County.

Homicide
2.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
12.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
18.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Douglas 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Duluth Intl at 30 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year87.8%Top 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle30 miTop 42%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Duluth IntlDLH30 mi10,591 ft
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU112 mi8,101 ft
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP127 mi11,006 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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Area Score
58
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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
Housing, 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
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 September 26, 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 Douglas 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.