Oconto County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the U.S. state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,965. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Oconto. The county was established in 1851. Oconto County is part of the Green Bay, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Green Bay- Shawano, WI Combined Statistical Area.

History

First visited by French explorers in the 17th century, Oconto County is among the oldest settlements in Wisconsin. Father Claude-Jean Allouez of the Roman Catholic

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

order said the first Mass in Oconto. Among the first settlers was Joseph Tourtilott, who explored much of the Oconto River watershed. Oconto County was created in 1851 and organized in 1854.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (13%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Marinette County - northeast * Door County - southeast, border is in Green Bay * Brown County - south * Shawano County - southwest * Menominee County - west * Langlade County - west * Forest County - northwest

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 41 * U.S. Highway 141 * Highway 22 (Wisconsin) * Highway 32 (Wisconsin) * Highway 64 (Wisconsin)

Railroads

* Canadian National * Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad

Buses

Airport

J. Douglas Bake Memorial Airport (KOCQ) serves the county and surrounding communities.

National protected area

* Nicolet National Forest (part)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 38,965. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 23,754 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.3% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.8% from other races, and 3.8% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 2.2%

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 35,634 people, 13,979 households, and 10,050 families residing in the county. The

was . There were 19,812 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.76%

, 0.13%

, 0.78% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.24% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. 0.67% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 42.9% were of German, 11.8% Polish, 6.0% French and 5.6% American ancestry. There were 13,979 households, out of which 32.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.70% were married couples living together, 6.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 23.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.97. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.70% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 24.00% 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 101.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.70 males. In 2017, there were 353 births, giving a general fertility rate of 61.0 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the 28th lowest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. Additionally, there were 14 reported induced abortions performed on women of Oconto County residence in 2017.Reported Induced Abortions in Wisconsin
Office of Health Informatics, Division of Public Health, Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Section: Trend Information, 2013-2017, Table 18, pages 17-18

Communities

Cities

* Gillett * Oconto (county seat) * Oconto Falls

Villages

* Lena * Pulaski (mostly in Brown County and Shawano County) * Suring

Towns

* Abrams * Bagley * Brazeau *

Breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

* Chase * Doty * Gillett * How * Lakewood * Lena * Little River * Little Suamico * Maple Valley * Morgan *

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

* Oconto Falls * Oconto * Pensaukee * Riverview *

Spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

* Stiles * Townsend * Underhill

Census-designated places

* Abrams * Lakewood *

* Sobieski * Townsend

Unincorporated communities

* Bonita *

* Brookside * Chase * County Line (partial) * Cullen * Frostville * Hayes * Hickory Corners * Hintz * Kelly Brook * Klondike * Little Suamico * Logan * Morgan * Mosling * Oak Orchard * Pensaukee * Sampson * Sobieski Corners * South Chase *

* Stiles * Stiles Junction * Underhill * Kingston

Native American community

* Forest County Potawatomi Community

Ghost town/neighborhood

* Leighton * Pine Stump

Politics

In the latter half of the 20th century and the early 21st century, Oconto County was a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...

in presidential elections, supporting the winning candidate in every election from 1964 to 2008. In

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, however, the county voted for Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

despite Romney losing the state of Wisconsin and the national election. In 2016, the county swung 27 percentage points to the right, giving Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

a margin of victory of more than 37 percentage points and a vote share of 66%. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Trump improved his performance, carrying Oconto by a margin of 41 percentage points and winning 69.9% of the vote to Democrat

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

's 28.9%. This was the best result for any presidential nominee in Oconto County since 1920, when Warren Harding received 78.2% of the vote, and remains the third strongest performance of any candidate ever. Trump broke this record again in 2024, when he received over 70% of the county's vote.

References

External links

Oconto County

Oconto County map
from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Oconto County Tourism & Development
{{coord, 44.99, -88.23, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-WI_source:UScensus1990 Green Bay metropolitan area 1854 establishments in Wisconsin Populated places established in 1854