Polk County, Wisconsin

Polk County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,977. Its county seat is Balsam Lake. The county was created in 1853 and named for United States President James K. Polk.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 956 sqmi, of which 914 sqmi is land and 42 sqmi (4.4%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * Burnett County - north
 * Barron County - east
 * Dunn County - southeast
 * St. Croix County - south
 * Washington County, Minnesota - southwest
 * Chisago County, Minnesota - west

Railroads

 * Canadian National
 * Minnesota Transportation Museum

Buses

 * List of intercity bus stops in Wisconsin

Airports

 * Amery Municipal Airport (KAHH) serves the county and surrounding communities.
 * L.O. Simenstad Municipal Airport (KOEO).

National protected area

 * Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway (part)

2020 census
As of the census of 2020, the population was 44,977. The population density was 49.2 /mi2. There were 24,129 housing units at an average density of 26.4 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 93.5% White, 0.9% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% Black or African American, 0.8% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 2.1% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

2000 census
As of the 2000 census, there were 41,319 people, 16,254 households, and 11,329 families residing in the county. The population density was 45 /mi2. There were 21,129 housing units at an average density of 23 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 97.64% White, 0.15% Black or African American, 1.06% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. 0.80% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 31.4% were of German, 18.6% Norwegian, 11.3% Swedish, 5.5% Irish and 5.3% American ancestry.

There were 16,254 households, out of which 32.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.20% were married couples living together, 7.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.30% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.20% under the age of 18, 6.70% from 18 to 24, 27.70% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 15.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.50 males.

In 2017, there were 400 births, giving a general fertility rate of 56.0 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the 14th lowest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties.

Cities

 * Amery
 * St. Croix Falls

Villages

 * Balsam Lake (county seat)
 * Centuria
 * Clayton
 * Clear Lake
 * Dresser
 * Frederic
 * Luck
 * Milltown
 * Osceola
 * Turtle Lake (mostly in Barron County)

Towns

 * Alden
 * Apple River
 * Balsam Lake
 * Beaver
 * Black Brook
 * Bone Lake
 * Clam Falls
 * Clayton
 * Clear Lake
 * Eureka
 * Farmington
 * Garfield
 * Georgetown
 * Johnstown
 * Laketown
 * Lincoln
 * Lorain
 * Luck
 * McKinley
 * Milltown
 * Osceola
 * St. Croix Falls
 * Sterling
 * West Sweden

Census-designated place

 * Lewis

Unincorporated communities

 * Atlas
 * Bunyan
 * Clam Falls
 * Cushing
 * Deronda
 * East Farmington
 * Eureka Center
 * Fox Creek
 * Horse Creek
 * Indian Creek
 * Joel
 * Lamar
 * Little Falls
 * Lykens
 * McKinley
 * Nye
 * Pole Cat Crossing (partial)
 * Range
 * Richardson
 * Sand Lake
 * Ubet
 * Wanderoos
 * West Denmark
 * West Sweden
 * Wolf Creek

Notable residents

 * Arnold Franz Brasz (1888–1966), a prominent painter, sculptor, and printmaker was born in Polk County on July 19, 1888
 * George A. Nelson (1873–1962), the 1936 Socialist Party of America nominee for vice president of the United States, was born in rural Polk County and was a dairy farmer there.

Politics
From its founding in 1853 through 1928, Polk County was a strongly Republican county in presidential elections, never once backing the Democratic candidate. The only two times in that span it did not support the Republican candidate were in 1912 when former Republican Theodore Roosevelt won the county as the Progressive candidate and in 1924 when Progressive and native Wisconsinite Robert M. La Follette won the county. Then, between 1932 and 2012, Polk County was a very consistently competitive county that leaned slightly Republican. Only two candidates in that span won at least 60% of the county's vote, Dwight D. Eisenhower in his 1952 landslide and Lyndon B. Johnson in his 1964 landslide. Polk County took a rightward turn in 2016, when Donald Trump won over 60% of the county's vote with a winning margin of over 27%, the best margin of victory in the county since 1928 with the exception of Johnson in 1964. Trump won in 2020 with the exact same margin of victory of over 27% while increasing his vote share to nearly 63%.