Portage County, Wisconsin

Portage County is a county in Wisconsin, United States, about 35 miles south of Wausau in the
state’s central sand plains. It had a population of 70,377 at the 2020 census, an estimated
71,943 by 2025, and covers 823 square miles (2,131.6 km2) centred near 44°29′N 89°30′W.

Stevens Point is the county seat and the county’s only city; its postal code is 54481. The
county holds 1 city, 9 incorporated villages and dozens of unincorporated hamlets spread across
17 towns, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 55097.

Towns & Villages in Portage County

Portage County has 12 named places with municipal or census recognition: 1 city, 9 villages
and 2 census-designated places (CDPs). CDP stands for census designated place, an unincorporated
community with a Census Bureau population count but no local government of its own; the county’s
remaining 24-plus named hamlets have neither and are listed with the towns that contain them,
below.

Three villages share a name with a separate civil town: the Village of Almond sits inside the
Town of Almond, the Village of Amherst inside the Town of Amherst, and the Village of Plover
inside the Town of Plover. Each village is its own incorporated government, independent of the
town that surrounds it, so their populations above are not double-counted with the town figures
in the next table. A tenth village, Milladore, straddles the Portage—Wood county line but
sits mostly in Wood County; it is omitted here because its population is credited to Wood
County.

Towns (Civil Townships)

Wisconsin’s equivalent of a township is called a town, and Portage County has 17 of them.
Each is its own unit of local government, separate from the villages and city above.

ZIP Codes

• 54481 — Stevens Point (also covers Whiting and Park Ridge)
• 54482 — Stevens Point, a post office box ZIP
• 54467 — Plover
• 54406 — Amherst
• 54407 — Amherst Junction (also serves Nelsonville)
• 54458 — Nelsonville, a second ZIP for the village
• 54473 — Rosholt
• 54443 — Junction City
• 54909 — Almond
• 54921 — Bancroft

Polonia and the smaller unincorporated communities — Ellis, Little Waupon, North Star,
Casimir, Jordan, Kellner, Badger, Mill Creek Community, Rocky Run, Coddington, Keene, Torun,
West Bancroft, Alban, New Hope, Garfield, Peru, West Almond, Blaine, Dopp and Heffron —
have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated village or
town’s code.

Geography

Portage County sits in Wisconsin’s central sand plain, a flat to gently rolling belt of
outwash sand left by retreating glaciers. Of its 823 square miles, 801 (2,074.6 km2) are land and
22 (57 km2) are water, about 2.7 percent. The Wisconsin River touches the county’s
southwestern corner, and the Plover River runs through the Village of Plover before joining the
Wisconsin River; the Tomorrow River, dammed at Nelsonville in the 1850s, drains the county’s
eastern towns. The Buena Vista Marsh and Mead Wildlife Area, both in the county’s
southwestern towns, are the largest protected wetlands.

Marathon County lies to the north, Shawano County to the northeast, Waupaca County to the east,
Waushara County to the southeast, Adams County to the southwest, and Wood County to the west.
Marathon County, Shawano County, Waupaca County, Waushara County, Adams County and Wood County all border Portage
directly.

Demographics

Portage County had a population of 70,377 at the 2020 census, up from 70,019 in 2010, and the
latest estimate puts the county near 71,943 residents by 2025. Stevens Point and Plover are by
far the two largest communities, together holding well over half the county’s population.
Median household income runs $76,070, close to but slightly below Wisconsin’s statewide
figure of $77,485. Population density works out to about 87.9 people per square mile of land,
concentrated around Stevens Point and Plover, with the county’s western and southern towns
far more sparsely settled.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 5,715 people, followed by health
care and social assistance at 4,837 and retail trade at 4,079. Pixelle Specialty Solutions runs a
paper mill in Stevens Point, a direct descendant of the county’s 19th-century logging and
papermaking industries. Sentry Insurance, one of the largest mutual insurers in the country, is
headquartered in Stevens Point and is among the county’s biggest employers, alongside
Associated Banc-Corp, Skyward (school-administration software) and the Stevens Point Brewery,
one of the oldest breweries in the state. The University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point, with
roughly 7,900 students, anchors the city’s north side and its natural-resources programs
draw students from across the Midwest. The county’s best-known annual event is the
World’s Largest Trivia Contest, a 54-hour marathon run every April by campus radio station
90FM WWSP, drawing teams from across the country.

History

Wisconsin’s territorial legislature created Portage County in 1836 and organized it in
1844. It takes its name from the historic portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, the same
feature that named the city of Portage; boundary changes later separated the county from that
namesake city, which now sits in Columbia County. Stevens Point, platted in 1847 around a
stopping point for river loggers on the Wisconsin River, was incorporated as a city in 1858 and
became the county seat. Polish immigrant families settled at Ellis and, from 1871, at the
hilltop settlement they named Polonia, in the town of Sharon — among the earliest Polish
farming communities in Wisconsin.

Getting There

Interstate 39 runs the length of the county through Stevens Point and Plover, alongside US
Highway 10 and US Highway 51. State Highways 13, 22, 34, 49, 54, 66, 73 and 161 also cross the
county.

• Wausau — about 35 miles north
• Wisconsin Rapids — about 20 miles southwest
• Waupaca — about 25 miles east
• Marshfield — about 30 miles west

Central Wisconsin Airport, near Mosinee in Marathon County about 20 miles north of Stevens
Point, is the nearest commercial airport, with flights to Chicago—O’Hare and
Minneapolis—St. Paul. Amtrak’s Borealis and Empire Builder trains stop at the
Wisconsin Dells station, roughly 65 miles south.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Portage County located?
It sits in Wisconsin’s central sand plain, about 35 miles south of Wausau, bordered by
Marathon, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara, Adams and Wood counties.

What is the population of Portage County?
70,377 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 71,943.

How big is Portage County?
823 square miles (2,131.6 km2), of which 801 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Portage County?
Stevens Point, incorporated in 1858, is the county seat and the only city in the county.

How many towns and villages are in Portage County?
One city (Stevens Point), nine villages — Plover, Whiting, Amherst, Park Ridge, Rosholt,
Almond, Junction City, Amherst Junction and Nelsonville — and 17 towns.

What ZIP codes does Portage County use?
54481 and 54482 for Stevens Point; 54467 for Plover; 54406 for Amherst; 54407 and 54458 for
Amherst Junction and Nelsonville; 54473 for Rosholt; 54443 for Junction City; 54909 for Almond;
and 54921 for Bancroft.

What is Portage County known for?
Sentry Insurance’s headquarters, the University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point, and the
World’s Largest Trivia Contest, a 54-hour campus-radio event held every April.

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