2025

Counties in Wisconsin ranked by White Population

This list ranks the 72 counties in Wisconsin based on their White population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest White population in Wisconsin

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  • 1
    Milwaukee County
    White population in Milwaukee County is 578,831
    56.07% of Milwaukee County population is White
  • 2
    Dane County
    White population in Dane County is 487,703
    79.88% of Dane County population is White
  • 3
    Waukesha County
    White population in Waukesha County is 379,960
    88.18% of Waukesha County population is White
  • 4
    Brown County
    White population in Brown County is 236,682
    81.08% of Brown County population is White
  • 5
    Outagamie County
    White population in Outagamie County is 175,590
    86.91% of Outagamie County population is White

List of 72 counties in Wisconsin by White Population

View Methodology
Rank by White Population
County
White Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total Wisconsin White Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Milwaukee County 578,831 56.07% 11.22%
2 Dane County 487,703 79.88% 9.45%
3 Waukesha County 379,960 88.18% 7.37%
4 Brown County 236,682 81.08% 4.59%
5 Outagamie County 175,590 86.91% 3.40%
6 Racine County 165,222 75.73% 3.20%
7 Winnebago County 157,906 87.80% 3.06%
8 148,496 77.88% 2.88%
9 147,772 83.00% 2.86%
10 131,482 92.10% 2.55%
11 127,365 87.89% 2.47%
12 111,145 88.82% 2.15%
13 106,165 84.86% 2.06%
14 99,245 87.54% 1.92%
15 98,861 88.82% 1.92%
16 98,232 88.92% 1.90%
17 92,117 93.01% 1.79%
18 87,944 90.80% 1.70%
19 84,409 90.00% 1.64%
20 81,317 89.74% 1.58%
21 77,352 90.13% 1.50%
22 71,067 92.06% 1.38%
23 66,195 90.44% 1.28%
24 63,912 92.83% 1.24%
25 62,380 89.44% 1.21%
26 55,872 92.01% 1.08%
27 50,379 93.57% 0.98%
28 49,852 89.07% 0.97%
29 49,830 94.06% 0.97%
30 44,715 92.23% 0.87%
31 44,446 94.30% 0.86%
32 43,674 90.66% 0.85%
33 43,132 91.93% 0.84%
34 42,325 91.01% 0.82%
35 41,129 94.72% 0.80%
36 41,020 92.63% 0.80%
37 38,295 94.15% 0.74%
38 37,376 86.46% 0.72%
39 37,146 94.05% 0.72%
40 36,159 94.25% 0.70%
41 33,739 92.43% 0.65%
42 30,486 95.18% 0.59%
43 29,428 93.32% 0.57%
44 28,074 88.00% 0.54%
45 27,833 94.33% 0.54%
46 25,262 89.10% 0.49%
47 23,203 93.56% 0.45%
48 23,156 89.50% 0.45%
49 21,095 86.05% 0.41%
50 20,107 93.82% 0.39%
51 19,976 90.11% 0.39%
52 19,687 95.00% 0.38%
53 19,091 86.28% 0.37%
54 19,067 92.61% 0.37%
55 18,523 92.99% 0.36%
56 16,509 93.51% 0.32%
57 16,402 93.38% 0.32%
58 16,297 93.57% 0.32%
59 15,867 90.48% 0.31%
60 15,604 93.29% 0.30%
61 15,241 93.66% 0.30%
62 15,161 78.46% 0.29%
63 14,824 84.87% 0.29%
64 14,210 84.03% 0.28%
65 13,817 94.22% 0.27%
66 13,731 94.13% 0.27%
67 13,099 95.18% 0.25%
68 7,885 79.31% 0.15%
69 7,206 95.60% 0.14%
70 6,089 94.40% 0.12%
71 4,565 95.86% 0.09%
72 695 15.56% 0.01%

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in Wisconsin by their White population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines White Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as White, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as White alone, while others identify as White along with another race (such as White and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and White .
  • We’ve used the “White alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the White population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as White alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as White .
  2. % of Total Wisconsin White Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. White population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small White populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported White population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where White populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.