La Crosse County, Wisconsin

La Crosse County is a county in Wisconsin, United States, on the Mississippi River about 140
miles southeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. It had a population of 120,784 at the 2020
census, an estimated 121,339 by 2025, and covers 452 square miles (1,170 km2) of land centred
near 43°55′N 91°07′W.

La Crosse is the county seat and by far its largest city; its postal code is 54601. The county
holds 2 cities, 5 incorporated villages and 11 townships, plus a scatter of unincorporated
communities and census-designated places, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 55063.

Towns & Villages in La Crosse County

La Crosse County has 18 named places on record: 2 cities, 5 incorporated villages, 3
census-designated places and 8 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own.
CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no
formal boundary.

Note the Type labels: villages here (Holmen, West Salem, Bangor, Rockland) are shown as
“Town” only where that matches the state’s incorporation label — all
four are legally incorporated villages, not open-country townships, and each has its own village
board. French Island is both a village and a CDP under different Census-year boundaries; its
listed population is the 2020 CDP figure. New Amsterdam and Rockland both sit on the La Crosse
River within a few miles of each other — the river runs through both, so do not confuse
Rockland’s riverside site with the unrelated Rockland communities in Brown and Manitowoc
counties elsewhere in Wisconsin.

Townships

ZIP Codes

• 54601 — La Crosse (also serves 54602, a La Crosse PO Box ZIP, and the St. Joseph area)
• 54603 — La Crosse (also serves French Island)
• 54650 — Onalaska (also serves Brice Prairie)
• 54636 — Holmen
• 54669 — West Salem
• 54614 — Bangor
• 54653 — Rockland
• 54644 — Mindoro

New Amsterdam, Barre Mills, North La Crosse, West La Crosse, Midway, Council Bay, Burr Oak and
Newberg Corners have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest
incorporated place’s code.

Geography

La Crosse County sits in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, a hilly, unglaciated region of
bluffs and coulees along the Mississippi River. Of its 480 square miles, 452 are land and 28 are
water — about 5.9 percent, high for an inland Wisconsin county, because the Mississippi,
Black and La Crosse rivers all converge here alongside Lake Onalaska, a wide backwater pool
formed by a lock-and-dam system on the Mississippi. The bluffs east of the city of La Crosse rise
several hundred feet above the river valley and include Grandad Bluff, a well-known overlook.

Trempealeau County and Jackson County lie to the north, Monroe County to the east, Vernon
County to the south, and across the Mississippi to the west are Houston County and Winona
County, both in Minnesota. Trempealeau
County, Jackson County,
Monroe County,
Vernon County,
Houston County and
Winona County all border La Crosse
directly.

Demographics

La Crosse County had a population of 120,784 at the 2020 census, and the latest Census Bureau
estimate puts the county near 121,339 residents. La Crosse and Onalaska are by far the two
largest communities, together holding well over half the county’s population. Median
household income runs $73,013 (2024 ACS, Data USA), above Wisconsin’s statewide figure of
$74,631 (2023 ACS) once the one-year vintage gap is accounted for. Population density works out
to roughly 267 people per square mile of land, among the densest counties in western Wisconsin,
reflecting the county’s position at the hub of the La Crosse-Onalaska metropolitan area.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 12,204 people,
followed by retail trade at 9,170 and manufacturing at 8,052. Gundersen Health System and Mayo
Clinic Health System-Franciscan Skemp, both headquartered in the city of La Crosse, anchor that
health care employment and draw patients from across the tri-state region. Trane and Kwik Trip,
whose retail support center sits in Onalaska, are among the county’s largest private
employers outside health care. Three colleges — the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse,
Viterbo University and Western Technical College — sit within the city of La Crosse itself.
Oktoberfest USA, the county’s biggest annual event, fills downtown La Crosse each
September with a nod to the city’s brewing history.

History

Nathan Myrick established the first European settlement here in 1841 as a fur-trading post on
the Mississippi. The Wisconsin legislature organized La Crosse County in 1851, and the city of La
Crosse incorporated in 1856. The county and city take their name from “la crosse,” a
French term for the stick-and-ball game played by Native Americans in the area — early
French traders thought the curved stick resembled a bishop’s crozier.

Lumber milling and brewing drove the city’s rapid growth through the late 1800s, when La
Crosse ranked among Wisconsin’s largest cities. The county also carries a harder history:
La Crosse acknowledged its past as a sundown town, with the city’s mayor issuing a formal
apology in 2016. Onalaska, Holmen and Bangor were each settled by distinct immigrant groups in
the 1850s and 1860s — Onalaska by New England lumbermen, Holmen by Norwegian farmers, and
Bangor by Welsh families who named their new home after Bangor, Wales.

Getting There

Interstate 90 crosses the county’s northern half, running east-west through Onalaska and
Holmen. US 14, US 53 and US 61 also pass through the county, along with Wisconsin routes 16, 33,
35 and 157.

• Winona, Minnesota — about 25 miles southwest
• Sparta — about 25 miles east
• Tomah — about 35 miles northeast
• Viroqua — about 30 miles south

La Crosse Regional Airport, on French Island just north of downtown La Crosse, offers
scheduled service to Chicago. Amtrak’s Empire Builder and Borealis trains stop at the La
Crosse station downtown, connecting to Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Seattle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is La Crosse County located?
It sits in western Wisconsin on the Mississippi River, bordered by Trempealeau, Jackson, Monroe
and Vernon counties in Wisconsin and Houston and Winona counties across the river in Minnesota.

What is the population of La Crosse County?
120,784 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 121,339.

How big is La Crosse County?
452 square miles of land (1,170 km2), plus 28 square miles of water.

What is the county seat of La Crosse County?
La Crosse, incorporated in 1856, is the county seat and by far the largest city.

How many towns and villages are in La Crosse County?
Two cities — La Crosse and Onalaska — and five incorporated villages: Holmen, West
Salem, Bangor, French Island and Rockland, plus 11 townships and a scatter of unincorporated
communities.

What ZIP codes does La Crosse County use?
54601, 54602 and 54603 for La Crosse; 54650 for Onalaska and Brice Prairie; 54636 for Holmen;
54669 for West Salem; 54614 for Bangor; 54653 for Rockland; and 54644 for Mindoro.

What is La Crosse County known for?
The Driftless Area bluffs above the Mississippi, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and
Oktoberfest USA each September.

More counties in this state: Towns
and villages in Wisconsin.