Walworth County, WI

County Profile

105,657 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Walworth 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.

73out of 100
Area Score
Top 7% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 1% of 1,463 counties measured88
Schools755th of 1,377 counties measured47
GrowthTop 40% of 1,453 counties measured56
Housing affordabilityTop 24% of 1,462 counties measured79
Climate1,113th of 1,463 counties measured60
Physical resilienceTop 6% of 1,463 counties measured91
Access995th of 1,463 counties measured72
Economic stabilityTop 12% of 1,463 counties measured87
The quick read

Walworth County ranks in the top 1% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.0% and median household income of $80,520.

In the public schools here, 41% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.2 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 489 units authorized over the past twelve months, 26% 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
105,657
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,520
Top 18% nationally
Density
190/sq mi
555.4 sq mi of land
Median age
41.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Walworth County
Wisconsin
Nearest major airport
MSN
52 mi · Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld
Median home value
$302,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.0%, lower than in 90% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 2.6% over the past year, to 60,208 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 81% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$97,69492nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$74,03682nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,9902024 ACS 5-Year$80,520Top 18%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1662024 ACS 5-Year$45,175Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$67,812Top 20%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year7.8%Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.9 minBottom 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year32.4%Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.7%44th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202660,208Top 35%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+4.4%Top 11%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.6%Top 8%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202662,07665th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year82.9%Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%53rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 33%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.0%Top 10%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.2%71st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.82.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.0% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, 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

202120222023202481k69k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,520 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.

41% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.2 students for every full-time teacher across 37 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
40
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.2
across 37 of them
Math proficiency
41.1%
Bottom 36% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
41.0%
Bottom 42% in Wisconsin
The 12 largest of 40 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Badger HighLake Geneva-Genoa City UHS School District1,24015.733%41%
Elkhorn Area HighElkhorn Area School District95315.132%46%
Elkhorn Area MiddleElkhorn Area School District65915.343%42%
Whitewater HighWhitewater Unified School District60614.127%32%
Lake Geneva MiddleLake Geneva J1 School District55113.439%43%
Central - Denison ElementaryLake Geneva J1 School District52212.172%47%
Delavan-Darien HighDelavan-Darien School District51113.812%17%
Jackson ElementaryElkhorn Area School District48516.257%53%
Phoenix MiddleDelavan-Darien School District47411.829%31%
East Troy HighEast Troy Community School District44812.432%37%
Big Foot HighBig Foot UHS School District43715.132%37%
Tibbets ElementaryElkhorn Area School District43116.077%57%

37.9% 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 $4,036 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.33% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,206, close to the $1,150 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,206 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $48,200 a year, about 60% of the median household income here of $80,520.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,150 a month.

A median home at $302,700 costs 3.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $100,861, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
27.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,206
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,150
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$302,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Walworth County’s median household income of $80,520, 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-Year3.0Bottom 29%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.6%31st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1152024 ACS 5-Year54,12484th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$919Top 45%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,517Top 48%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,206Bottom 47%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$342024 ACS 5-Year$1,150Bottom 19%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,6432024 ACS 5-Year$302,70081st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$852024 ACS 5-Year$4,03693rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,7642024 ACS 5-Year$100,861Top 13%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year1.33%83rd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year27.0%Top 42%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4422024 ACS 5-Year8,39997th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year15.5%89th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.9%15th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4722024 ACS 5-Year11,03792nd 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

56/ 100
Top 40% 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 grown 1% since 2020, reaching 106,029 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 — 26% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 489 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 19% are 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 Walworth County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $97,694, above the $74,036 of households that moved out.

At 4.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
489
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.6
Top 32% nationally
Year over year
−26%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
18.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024106k105k
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
49%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$97,694
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$74,036
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Waukesha County, WI 432 people · 8.9% of arrivals
  2. Cook County, IL 396 people · 8.2% of arrivals
  3. Racine County, WI 396 people · 8.2% of arrivals
  4. Rock County, WI 345 people · 7.1% of arrivals
  5. Milwaukee County, WI 339 people · 7.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Waukesha County, WI 433 people · 9.2% of departures
  2. Rock County, WI 405 people · 8.6% of departures
  3. Racine County, WI 365 people · 7.8% of departures
  4. Milwaukee County, WI 317 people · 6.7% of departures
  5. Kenosha County, WI 293 people · 6.2% 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

2022202320242025668325
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+106%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 16°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 31.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 42, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station KENOSHA RGNL AP, 31.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year612024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals31.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals16°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year422024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals49°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
42
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
61
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

91 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 44% 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 94% of measured US counties.

HailElevated
TornadoModerate
Strong windModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, inland flooding, landslide, winter weather, earthquake, ice storm, drought, wildfire, 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.

Walworth County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.3 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 16.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 16.1 per 100,000 residents in Walworth County.

Homicide
3.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
16.1
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.1
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 Walworth 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 52 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year88.7%Top 36%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle52 miBottom 29%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year6.0%Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN52 mi9,006 ft
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD58 mi11,245 ft
Wittman RgnlOSH91 mi8,002 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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73
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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.

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.