Vernon County, Wisconsin Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Vernon County
U.S. county
Vernon County Courthouse in October 2015
Location within the U.S. state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
Founded	1851
Named for	Mount Vernon
Seat	Viroqua
Largest city	Viroqua
Area
• Total	816 sq mi (2,110 km²)
• Land	792 sq mi (2,050 km²)
• Water	25 sq mi (60 km²) 3.0%%
Population (2010)
• Total	29,773
• Estimate (2020)	30,861
• Density	36.487/sq mi (14.088/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	3rd

Vernon County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,773. Its county seat is Viroqua.

History
Geography
Demographics and religion statistics
Communities
Gallery
Economy
Images for kids
See also

History

Vernon County was renamed from Bad Ax County on 22 March 1862. Bad Ax County had been created on 1 March 1851 from territory that had been part of Richland and Crawford counties. The name Vernon was chosen to reflect the county's green fields of wheat and to evoke Mount Vernon.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 816 square miles (2,110 km²), of which 792 square miles (2,050 km²) is land and 25 square miles (65 km²) (3.0%) is water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 14
U.S. Highway 61
Highway 27 (Wisconsin)
Highway 33 (Wisconsin)
Highway 35 (Wisconsin)
Highway 56 (Wisconsin)
Highway 80 (Wisconsin)
Highway 82 (Wisconsin)
Highway 131 (Wisconsin)
Highway 162 (Wisconsin)

Airports

Viroqua Municipal Airport (Y51) serves the county and surrounding communities.
The Joshua Sanford Field airport (~~KHBW~~) was closed sometime in the fall of 2016.

Adjacent counties

La Crosse County - northwest
Monroe County - north
Juneau County - northeast
Sauk County - east
Richland County - southeast
Crawford County - south
Allamakee County, Iowa - southwest
Houston County, Minnesota - west

Demographics and religion statistics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	11,007	—
1870	18,645	69.4%
1880	23,235	24.6%
1890	25,111	8.1%
1900	28,351	12.9%
1910	28,116	−0.8%
1920	29,252	4.0%
1930	28,537	−2.4%
1940	29,940	4.9%
1950	27,906	−6.8%
1960	25,663	−8.0%
1970	24,557	−4.3%
1980	25,642	4.4%
1990	25,617	−0.1%
2000	28,056	9.5%
2010	29,773	6.1%
2020 (est.)	30,861	3.7%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

2000 Census Age Pyramid for Vernon County

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,056 people, 10,825 households, and 7,501 families residing in the county. The population density was 35 people per square mile (14/km²). There were 12,416 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.81% White, 0.06% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.27% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races. 0.66% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 38.3% were of Norwegian, 26.9% German, 6.4% Irish and 6.1% English ancestry. 90.9% spoke English, 3.5% German, 1.8% Norwegian, 1.2% Pennsylvania Dutch and 1.0% Spanish as their first language.

There were 10,825 households, out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.70% were married couples living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.70% were non-families. 26.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.40% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.60 males.

In 2017, there were 434 births, giving a general fertility rate of 90.5 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the fourth highest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. Of these births, 123 occurred at home, second only to Clark County which had 184 home births.

In 2010, the largest religious groups by reported number of adherents were ELCA Lutheran at 6,735 adherents, Catholic at 3,060 adherents, Amish at 2,786 adherents, United Methodist at 1,533 adherents, Wisconsin Synod Lutheran at 1,402 adherents, and Non-denominational Christian at 766 adherents.