Dodge County is a county in Wisconsin, United States, centred on the city of Beaver Dam along the Rock River in the south-central part of the state. It had a population of 89,396 at the 2020 census and covers 907 square miles (2,350 km2) centred near 43°25′N 88°43′W.
Juneau is the county seat, and its postal code is 53039. Dodge County has nine cities, eleven villages, twenty-three towns and roughly three dozen unincorporated communities. The county sits in the Central time zone and anchors the Beaver Dam, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area, part of the wider Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha combined area.
Towns & Villages in Dodge County
Dodge County counts 58 named places on the ground: 9 incorporated cities (one of them, Juneau, doubling as county seat), 11 villages, 4 census-designated places and roughly three dozen unincorporated crossroads and rail-junction hamlets. Beaver Dam, Fox Lake, Horicon, Juneau, Mayville, Waupun and the villages sit wholly inside the county; Columbus, Hartford and Watertown are mostly in neighboring counties and only edge into Dodge, so their ZIPs and populations are not counted here. “CDP” below means census-designated place (an unincorporated but statistically tracked community); “Unincorp.” means an unincorporated crossroads, rail junction or farm hamlet with no formal government.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juneau | City · seat | — | — | 53039 |
| Beaver Dam | City | — | — | 53916 |
| Columbus | City | — | — | — |
| Fox Lake | City | — | — | 53933 |
| Hartford | City | — | — | — |
| Horicon | City | — | — | 53032 |
| Mayville | City | — | — | 53050 |
| Watertown | City | — | — | 53098 |
| Waupun | City | — | — | 53963 |
| Brownsville | Village | — | — | 53006 |
| Clyman | Village | — | — | 53016 |
| Hustisford | Village | — | — | 53034 |
| Iron Ridge | Village | — | — | 53035 |
| Kekoskee | Village | — | — | — |
| Lomira | Village | — | — | 53048 |
| Lowell | Village | — | — | 53557 |
| Neosho | Village | — | — | 53059 |
| Randolph | Village | — | — | 53956 |
| Reeseville | Village | — | — | 53579 |
| Theresa | Village | — | — | 53091 |
| Ashippun | CDP | — | — | 53003 |
| Burnett | CDP | — | — | 53922 |
| Lebanon | CDP | — | — | 53047 |
| Rubicon | CDP | — | — | 53078 |
| Alderley | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Astico | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Atwater | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Beaver Edge | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Buckhorn Corner | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Clyman Junction | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Danville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Delbern Acres | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| East Waupun | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Farmersville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Fox Lake Junction | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Herman Center | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Hochheim | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Huilsburg | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Knowles | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| LeRoy | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Leipsig | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Lost Lake | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Lyndon Dale | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Minnesota Junction | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Nasbro | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Neda | Unincorp. | Emmet | — | — |
| North Lowell | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Oak Grove | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Old Ashippun | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Old Lebanon | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Richwood | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Rolling Prairie | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Saylesville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| South Beaver Dam | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| South Randolph | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Sugar Island | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Sunset Beach | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Theresa Station | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Woodland | Unincorp. | — | — | 53099 |
Three cities on this list are only partly in Dodge County. Columbus straddles the Columbia/Dodge/Dane county lines, Hartford is centred in Washington County with a small Dodge-side annex, and Watertown is mostly in Jefferson County with only its northeastern edge in Dodge — each is included here because it appears on the county’s own community list, but its ZIP code and population belong mainly to the neighboring county.
Townships
Dodge County is organized into twenty-three towns (Wisconsin’s term for civil townships); a former twenty-fourth, Williamstown, was dissolved and absorbed by its neighbors. Individual 2020 township population counts were not verified for this update, so the table below lists towns alphabetically with the named place each is best known for.
| Town | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Ashippun | — | Ashippun, Old Ashippun |
| Beaver Dam | — | Surrounds the city of Beaver Dam |
| Burnett | — | Burnett |
| Calamus | — | Astico |
| Chester | — | — |
| Clyman | — | Clyman, Clyman Junction |
| Elba | — | Alderley |
| Emmet | — | Neda |
| Fox Lake | — | Surrounds the city of Fox Lake |
| Herman | — | Herman Center |
| Hubbard | — | Iron Ridge |
| Hustisford | — | Hustisford |
| Lebanon | — | Lebanon, Old Lebanon |
| LeRoy | — | LeRoy |
| Lomira | — | Lomira |
| Lowell | — | Lowell, North Lowell |
| Oak Grove | — | Oak Grove |
| Portland | — | — |
| Rubicon | — | Rubicon |
| Shields | — | — |
| Theresa | — | Theresa, Theresa Station |
| Trenton | — | — |
| Westford | — | — |
ZIP Codes
- 53039 — Juneau (county seat)
- 53916 — Beaver Dam
- 53963 — Waupun
- 53098 — Watertown (also serves the Dodge County edge of the city)
- 53050 — Mayville
- 53032 — Horicon
- 53933 — Fox Lake
- 53956 — Randolph
- 53048 — Lomira
- 53035 — Iron Ridge
- 53091 — Theresa
- 53006 — Brownsville
- 53059 — Neosho
- 53078 — Rubicon
- 53579 — Reeseville
- 53034 — Hustisford
- 53922 — Burnett
- 53557 — Lowell
- 53099 — Woodland
- 53016 — Clyman (PO Box delivery)
- 53003 — Ashippun (PO Box delivery)
- 53047 — Lebanon (PO Box delivery)
Kekoskee and most of the unincorporated crossroads hamlets have no ZIP code of their own and are served by the nearest listed post office town, usually Mayville or Horicon. Columbus and Hartford use ZIP codes centred in Columbia and Washington counties respectively, so they are not listed here.
Geography
Dodge County lies in the Rock River drainage basin on the plain between the Wisconsin River valley and Lake Michigan’s Kettle Moraine, with gently rolling farmland broken by two large lakes, Beaver Dam Lake and Fox Lake, and by the Horicon Marsh in the county’s northeast corner — one of the largest freshwater cattail marshes in the United States and a National Wildlife Refuge known for its Canada goose migration. Of the county’s 907 square miles, 876 square miles are land and 31 square miles are water.
Dodge County borders seven other Wisconsin counties: Fond du Lac County to the northeast, Washington County to the east, Waukesha County to the southeast, Jefferson County to the south, Dane County to the southwest, Columbia County to the west and Green Lake County to the northwest.
Demographics
Dodge County had 89,396 residents at the 2020 census, a density of roughly 102 people per square mile of land. Beaver Dam and Waupun are the county’s two largest communities located wholly or mainly within its borders. Household income figures at the county level were not independently verified for this update; the statewide Wisconsin median household income is $74,631, and Dodge County’s mix of manufacturing and farm employment typically tracks close to that figure rather than far above or below it.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture, particularly dairy and corn, remains central to the county’s economy, alongside manufacturing anchored by John Deere’s Horicon Works, a major lawn-and-garden equipment plant in Horicon. Waupun is home to two state correctional institutions, Waupun Correctional Institution and the Dodge Correctional Institution, both significant local employers. The Horicon Marsh draws birdwatchers and hunters each fall for the Canada goose migration, and Beaver Dam Lake and Fox Lake support a summer lake-cabin and boating economy.
History
Dodge County was created from Wisconsin Territory land in 1836 and organized as a functioning county government in 1844. It is named for Henry Dodge, the first governor of Wisconsin Territory. Nineteenth-century German and Irish immigrants settled the county’s farmland, and small iron-mining and quarry operations briefly operated near Neda and Iron Ridge in the 1800s before the county settled into its long-term identity as a dairy and grain farming region.
Getting There
Interstate 41 and US Route 41 run north–south through the county, US Route 151 crosses it diagonally, and Wisconsin Highways 16, 26, 28, 33, 49, 60, 67, 68, 73, 89 and 175 fill in the local network.
- Madison — about 45 miles southwest
- Milwaukee — about 55 miles east
- Fond du Lac — about 20 miles northeast
- Watertown — about 20 miles south
The nearest commercial airport is Dane County Regional Airport in Madison.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dodge County, Wisconsin?
It is in south-central Wisconsin, between Madison and Milwaukee, centred near 43°25′N 88°43′W.
What is the population of Dodge County?
89,396 at the 2020 census.
How big is Dodge County?
907 square miles (2,350 km2), of which 876 square miles are land.
What is the county seat of Dodge County?
Juneau is the county seat.
How many towns and villages are in Dodge County?
Nine cities, eleven villages, four census-designated places, twenty-three towns and roughly three dozen unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Dodge County?
Twenty-two ZIP codes serve the county, including 53039 (Juneau), 53916 (Beaver Dam), 53963 (Waupun) and 53032 (Horicon).
What is Dodge County known for?
The Horicon Marsh, one of the largest freshwater cattail marshes in the United States and a major stop for migrating Canada geese, plus the John Deere Horicon Works manufacturing plant.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Wisconsin.