Juneau County is a county in Wisconsin, United States, centred on the Lemonweir River valley in the central part of the state. It had a population of 26,718 at the 2020 census and covers 804 square miles (2,080 km2), 767 square miles (1,990 km2) of it land, centred near 43°55′N 90°07′W.
Mauston is the county seat, and its postal code is 53948. The county has 3 cities, 6 villages, and 19 towns, plus a number of unincorporated communities. Juneau County runs on Central Time and carries FIPS code 55057.
Towns & Villages in Juneau County
The table below lists Juneau County’s incorporated cities and villages, plus its better-known unincorporated communities. Cities and villages are self-governing; unincorporated places (marked “Unincorp.”) sit inside one of the county’s 19 towns but have no separate municipal government. Several unincorporated communities share a name with the town that contains them.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mauston | City · seat | — | — | 53948 |
| Elroy | City | — | — | 53929 |
| New Lisbon | City | — | — | 53950 |
| Camp Douglas | Village | — | — | 54618 |
| Hustler | Village | — | — | 54637 |
| Lyndon Station | Village | Lyndon | — | 53944 |
| Necedah | Village | Necedah | — | 54646 |
| Union Center | Village | — | — | 53962 |
| Wonewoc | Village | Wonewoc | — | 53968 |
| Cloverdale | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Cutler | Unincorp. | Cutler | — | — |
| Finley | Unincorp. | Finley | — | — |
| Indian Heights | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Kelly | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Lemonweir | Unincorp. | Lemonweir | — | — |
| Lindina | Unincorp. | Lindina | — | — |
| Lone Rock | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Mather | Unincorp. | — | — | 54641 |
| Meadow Valley | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| New Miner | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Orange Mill | Unincorp. | Orange | — | — |
| Sprague | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
Two places in the county share a name with a neighboring town but are distinct sites: Cutler, Finley, Lemonweir, and Lindina each name both a civil town and the small unincorporated hamlet at its center — the table lists the hamlet, and the Townships table below covers the town as a governmental unit. A small part of the resort city of Wisconsin Dells extends into far southeastern Juneau County, though most of that city lies in neighboring Columbia, Sauk, and Adams counties, so it is not counted as a Juneau County place here.
Townships
Juneau County is divided into 19 civil towns, the standard form of rural local government in Wisconsin. Each town elects its own board and provides basic services outside the incorporated cities and villages.
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Armenia | — | Rural |
| Clearfield | — | Rural |
| Cutler | — | Cutler |
| Finley | — | Finley |
| Fountain | — | Rural |
| Germantown | — | Rural |
| Kildare | — | Rural |
| Kingston | — | Rural |
| Lemonweir | — | Lemonweir, part of Mauston |
| Lindina | — | Lindina, Lone Rock |
| Lisbon | — | Part of New Lisbon |
| Lyndon | — | Lyndon Station |
| Marion | — | Rural |
| Necedah | — | Necedah, Meadow Valley |
| Orange | — | Orange Mill |
| Plymouth | — | Union Center |
| Seven Mile Creek | — | Rural |
| Summit | — | Camp Douglas area |
| Wonewoc | — | Wonewoc |
ZIP Codes
- 53948 — Mauston
- 53950 — New Lisbon
- 53929 — Elroy
- 54646 — Necedah (also serves Meadow Valley)
- 53968 — Wonewoc
- 54618 — Camp Douglas
- 53944 — Lyndon Station
- 54637 — Hustler (post office box delivery)
- 53962 — Union Center (post office box delivery)
- 54641 — Mather (post office box delivery)
Smaller unincorporated places such as Cloverdale, Cutler, Finley, Indian Heights, Kelly, Lemonweir, Lindina, Lone Rock, New Miner, Orange Mill, and Sprague have no ZIP code of their own and are served by the nearest post-office town above.
Geography
Juneau County sits in the Central Sand Plain, a flat to gently rolling former glacial lakebed left behind by Glacial Lake Wisconsin. The Lemonweir River crosses the county west to east through Mauston, and the county’s eastern side holds a large share of the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, a 44,000-acre wetland and pine-barrens preserve. Sandstone bluffs rise along the county’s southeastern edge near the Wisconsin River, part of the same formations that make up the Wisconsin Dells just downstream.
Juneau County borders seven other Wisconsin counties: Wood County to the north, Adams County to the east, Columbia County to the southeast, Sauk County to the south, Vernon County to the southwest, Monroe County to the west, and Jackson County to the northwest.
Demographics
The 2020 census counted 26,718 residents in Juneau County, a density of 34.8 people per square mile. Mauston, the county seat, and New Lisbon are the county’s two largest incorporated communities. Juneau County’s median household income runs below the Wisconsin median of $74,631, reflecting its largely rural, agricultural and forestry economic base.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture, forestry, and tourism drive the local economy. Cranberry growing is a major industry — Wisconsin produces most of the nation’s cranberries, and Juneau County is one of the state’s leading cranberry-marsh counties, alongside dairy farming and vegetable growing on the sandy, irrigated soils of the Central Sand Plain. The Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and nearby Meadow Valley and Sandhill wildlife areas draw hunters, birders, and hikers. Volk Field, a Wisconsin Air National Guard training base near Camp Douglas, is a major local employer and hosts the annual Volk Field Open House air show. Mauston, the county seat, anchors retail and county-government jobs along the Interstate 90/94 corridor.
History
Juneau County was created from Adams County in 1857 and named for Solomon Juneau, a fur trader and early Milwaukee founder who never lived in the county that bears his name. The area was long used by Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) people, whose effigy mounds and rock art survive at several sites in the county. Rail lines reaching Mauston and New Lisbon in the 1850s–1870s spurred settlement, and the draining and later re-flooding of Glacial Lake Wisconsin’s old bed shaped both the county’s cranberry industry and its wildlife refuges in the 20th century.
Getting There
Interstate 90/94 crosses the county through Mauston, meeting US Route 12 there; State Highway 80 and State Highway 82 serve the county’s smaller towns.
- Wisconsin Dells — 15 miles southeast
- Tomah — 25 miles northwest
- Wisconsin Rapids — 35 miles north
- Madison — 65 miles southeast
The nearest commercial airport is Dane County Regional Airport in Madison.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Juneau County, Wisconsin?
It lies in the central part of the state, along Interstate 90/94, about 65 miles northwest of Madison.
What is the population of Juneau County?
26,718 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Juneau County?
804 square miles (2,080 km2), including 37 square miles of water.
What is the county seat of Juneau County?
Mauston is the county seat.
How many towns and villages are in Juneau County?
The county has 3 cities, 6 villages, and 19 towns, plus a number of smaller unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Juneau County?
The main ZIP codes are 53948 (Mauston), 53950 (New Lisbon), 53929 (Elroy), 54646 (Necedah), 53968 (Wonewoc), 54618 (Camp Douglas), and 53944 (Lyndon Station), plus smaller post-office-box ZIPs at Hustler, Union Center, and Mather.
What is Juneau County known for?
Cranberry farming and the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest wetland preserves in the Upper Midwest.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Wisconsin.