Sauk County, WI
County Profile
66,009 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Sauk 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.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 14 sourcesSauk County ranks in the top 7% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.8% and median household income of $79,541.
In the public schools here, 39% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.9 students for every teacher.
Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 430 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 37% on 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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 2.8%, lower than in 94% of the 1,467 measured US counties.
Employment grew 1.1% over the past year, to 36,690 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023 | $65,313 | 65th percentileof 1,417 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023 | $52,575 | 32nd percentileof 1,417 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$2,3402024 ACS 5-Year | $79,541 | Top 19%of 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$1,5882024 ACS 5-Year | $41,246 | Top 22%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per-capita personal income2023 | $67,178 | Top 21%of 1,389 | 2023 |
| Poverty rate ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.9% | Top 13%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 24.6 min | Top 42%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 27.3% | Top 30%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 77.0% | 46th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 36,690 | Top 48%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | +1.5% | Top 33%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | +1.1% | Top 19%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 37,742 | 51st percentileof 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 83.9% | Top 10%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.1% | 42nd percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | +0.2% | Bottom 29%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 2.8% | Top 6%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 9.6% | 59th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
39% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 12.9 students for every full-time teacher across 29 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reedsburg Area High | Reedsburg School District | 889 | 15.1 | 29% | 34% |
| Baraboo High | Baraboo School District | 885 | 13.6 | 37% | 40% |
| Sauk Prairie High | Sauk Prairie School District | 862 | 15.4 | 26% | 40% |
| Sauk Prairie Middle | Sauk Prairie School District | 595 | 13.2 | 42% | 49% |
| Webb Middle | Reedsburg School District | 572 | 13.0 | 43% | 45% |
| Wisconsin Dells High | Wisconsin Dells School District | 563 | 14.8 | 27% | 37% |
| Jack Young Middle | Baraboo School District | 548 | 11.2 | 35% | 37% |
| Prairie Ridge Intermediate | Reedsburg School District | 505 | 13.3 | — | — |
| Bridges Elementary | Sauk Prairie School District | 458 | 12.7 | — | — |
| Grand Avenue Elementary | Sauk Prairie School District | 396 | 13.7 | 56% | 39% |
| Pineview Elementary | Reedsburg School District | 390 | 12.2 | 38% | 33% |
| River Valley High | River Valley School District | 364 | 12.6 | 37% | 57% |
36.7% 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →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 $3,755 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.45% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,111, some 9% above the $1,018 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,111 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $44,400 a year, about 56% of the median household income here of $79,541.
The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,018 a month.
A median home at $258,600 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $94,898, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
The figures above are measured against Sauk County’s median household income of $79,541, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2 | +4.9% | 73rd percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2 | +59.2% | 95th percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wisconsin’s figure2026 Q2 | +110.3% | 77th percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year | 2.7 | Bottom 39%of 3,217 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 72.4% | 39th percentileof 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±622024 ACS 5-Year | 31,496 | 75th percentileof 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $951 | Top 49%of 1,423 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,404 | Top 39%of 1,423 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $1,111 | Top 42%of 1,423 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$312024 ACS 5-Year | $1,018 | Bottom 29%of 3,215 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$5,8492024 ACS 5-Year | $258,600 | 74th percentileof 3,219 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$812024 ACS 5-Year | $3,755 | 92nd percentileof 3,172 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$3,1282024 ACS 5-Year | $94,898 | Top 18%of 3,218 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.45% | 88th percentileof 3,126 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 25.9% | Top 32%of 3,216 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±2412024 ACS 5-Year | 2,059 | 85th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 6.5% | 71st percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 4.6% | 12th percentileof 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±3282024 ACS 5-Year | 3,509 | 71st percentileof 3,222 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 grown 1% since 2020, reaching 66,486 in 2024.
Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 236 units authorized in 2025, 55% below the prior year.
Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Sauk County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $65,313, above the $52,575 of households that moved out.
At 6.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Dane County, WI 604 people · 21% of arrivals
- Columbia County, WI 346 people · 12% of arrivals
- Juneau County, WI 173 people · 5.9% of arrivals
- Richland County, WI 122 people · 4.2% of arrivals
- Adams County, WI 92 people · 3.1% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Dane County, WI 504 people · 17% of departures
- Columbia County, WI 330 people · 11% of departures
- Juneau County, WI 182 people · 6.3% of departures
- Richland County, WI 146 people · 5.0% of departures
- Adams County, WI 107 people · 3.7% 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
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 10°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 34.1 inches.
Air quality measures a median index of 37, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| 90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year | 53 | 2024 calendar year |
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 34.1" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 10°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 83°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year | 0 | 2024 calendar year |
| Median air quality index2024 calendar year | 37 | 2024 calendar year |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 53°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Air quality
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
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 57% 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.
Low or minimal exposure: landslide, cold wave, heat wave, strong wind, ice storm, winter weather, drought, wildfire, earthquake, hurricane, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, 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.
Sauk County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.1 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 21.2 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 10.4 per 100,000 residents in Sauk County.
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 Sauk 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 36 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 88.5% | Top 38%of 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 36 mi | Bottom 48%of 1,463 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 4 | Top 43%of 1,463 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.4% | Top 26%of 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld | MSN | 36 mi | 9,006 ft |
| La Crosse Rgnl | LSE | 73 mi | 8,742 ft |
| Wittman Rgnl | OSH | 79 mi | 8,002 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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Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyData & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Income | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Climate | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System Daily Air Quality Index by county | 2024 calendar year |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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 Sauk 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.