Walworth 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 ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 106,478. 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 Elkhorn. The county was created in 1836 from

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

and organized in 1839. It is named for Reuben H. Walworth. Walworth County comprises the

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

-Elkhorn, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tra ...

- Waukesha, WI Combined Statistical Area. The

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

is located in Walworth County. Walworth County features several major tourist destinations:

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

, Alpine Valley Resort, and

Alpine Valley Music Theatre Alpine Valley Music Theatre is a 30,000-capacity amphitheater located on County Highway D in East Troy, Wisconsin. The seasonal venue was built in 1977 and it features a wooden roof, covering the 7,500-seat pavilion and a sprawling lawn. It was ...

. Tourism is a large contributor to Walworth County's economy. It is Wisconsin's fifteenth largest county in population, but it is the sixth largest in terms of economic impact from tourism (nearly $1 billion in 2023).

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.7%) is water.

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 43 Interstate 43 (I-43) is a Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Wisconsin, connecting I-39/I-90 in Beloit with Milwaukee and I-41, U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) and US 141 in Green Bay. State Trunk Highw ...

* U.S. Highway 12 * U.S. Highway 14 *

Highway 11 (Wisconsin) State Trunk Highway 11 (often called Highway 11, STH-11 or WIS 11) is a state highway running east–west across southern Wisconsin. The highway connects Dubuque, Iowa with the cities of Janesville, Racine and Elkhorn. Most of the route ...

Highway 20 (Wisconsin) State Trunk Highway 20 (often called Highway 20, STH-20 or WIS 20) is a state highway in Walworth and Racine counties in southeastern Wisconsin, United States. The route is a short connector that bridges the city of Whitewater and points west ...

Highway 36 (Wisconsin) State Trunk Highway 36 (often called Highway 36, STH-36 or WIS 36) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs in a diagonal southwest–northeast direction across southeastern Wisconsin from Springfield which is north of La ...

Highway 50 (Wisconsin) State Trunk Highway 50 (often called Highway 50, STH-50 or WIS 50) is a state highway in Walworth and Kenosha counties in Wisconsin, United States, that runs from Wisconsin Highway 11 (WIS 11) in Delavan east to Wisconsin Highway 32 (WIS ...

Highway 59 (Wisconsin) State Trunk Highway 59 (often called Highway 59, STH-59 or WIS 59) is a state highway that runs east–west in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin from Milwaukee to Monroe. Route description The highway starts at WIS 11 ...

Highway 67 (Wisconsin) State Trunk Highway 67 (often called Highway 67, STH-67 or WIS 67) is a Wisconsin state highway running from the Wisconsin–Illinois state line east of Beloit, Wisconsin, Beloit north to U.S. Route 151, U.S. Highway 151 (US 151) east ...

Highway 83 (Wisconsin) State Trunk Highway 83 (often called Highway 83, STH-83 or WIS 83) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs north–south in southeast Wisconsin from Hartford to the Illinois border in the village of Salem Lakes ...

* Highway 89 (Wisconsin) * Highway 120 (Wisconsin)

Railroads

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

East Troy Electric Railroad The East Troy Electric Railroad is an interurban heritage railroad owned and operated by the East Troy Railroad Museum. Passenger excursions run on a stretch of track from East Troy to Mukwonago, Wisconsin. History The line dates back t ...

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

Wisconsin and Southern Railroad The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad is a Class II regional railroad in Southern Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois currently operated by Watco. It operates former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) and ...

Buses

Airport

East Troy Municipal Airport , serves the county and surrounding communities

Adjacent counties

Waukesha County Waukesha County () is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 406,978, making it the third-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its median income of $88,985 placed ...

(northeast) * Racine County (east) *

Kenosha County Kenosha County () is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,151, and was estimated to be 168,754 in 2024, making it the eighth-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its co ...

(east) *

McHenry County, Illinois McHenry County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, it had a population of 310,229, making it the sixth-most populous county in Illinois. Its count ...

(southeast) *

Boone County, Illinois Boone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,448. Its county seat is Belvidere. Boone County is included in the Rockford, Illinois metropolitan area. History Unlike most of Ill ...

(southwest) * Rock County (west) * Jefferson County (northwest)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 106,478. 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 53,146 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 85.4%

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 ...

, 1.1%

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 ...

, 1.0% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 4.6% from other races, and 7.4% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 11.8%

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

At the 2000 census there were 93,759 people, 34,522 households, and 23,267 families in the county. The population density was . There were 43,783 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.49% White, 0.84% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.62% from other races, and 1.14% from two or more races. 6.54% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 34,522 households 31.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.40% were married couples living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.60% were non-families. 24.70% of households were one person and 9.20% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.07. The age distribution was 24.20% under the age of 18, 13.80% from 18 to 24, 27.60% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 12.70% 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.20 males. In 2017, there were 918 births, giving a general fertility rate of 48.8 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the sixth lowest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties.

Communities

Cities

* Burlington (mostly in Racine County) * Delavan Delavan Wisconsin 9

* Elkhorn (county seat) *

(partly in Jefferson County)

Villages

* Bloomfield * Darien *

East Troy East Troy is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,673 at the 2020 census. The village is located southwest of the Town of East Troy. A small portion extends into the adjacent Town of Troy. As of 2020, th ...

* Fontana-on-Geneva Lake * Genoa City (partly in

) *

Mukwonago Mukwonago is a village in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 8,262 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The village is located mostly within the Mukwonago (town), Wisconsin, Town of Mukwonago in Waukesha County, Wisconsin ...

(mostly in

) *

Sharon Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name. In Anglosphere, English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, ...

Walworth Walworth ( ) is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the ...

Williams Bay Williams Bay is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of three municipalities on Geneva Lake. The population was 2,953 at the 2020 census. On June 22, 2024 the town was hit by an EF-1 tornado, there were no injurie ...

Towns

* Bloomfield * Darien * Delavan *

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

* Lafayette * La Grange *

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Carl Linnaeus, abbreviated as Linn. * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Place ...

Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

* Spring Prairie * Sugar Creek *

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

Census-designated places

* Allen's Grove *

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

* Delavan Lake * Lake Ivanhoe * Lake Lorraine * Lauderdale Lakes *

* Potter Lake * Springfield Turtle Lake floating

* Turtle Lake

Unincorporated communities

* Abells Corners *

Adams Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States *Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California * Adams, Decatur County, Indiana *Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England to ...

* Bardwell * Big Foot Prairie (partial) *

Bowers Bowers may refer to: Persons *Bowers (surname) Places ;Antarctica * Bowers Mountains * Bowers Piedmont Glacier ;United Kingdom * Bowers, Staffordshire, England * Bowers Gifford, Essex, England ;United States * Bowers, Delaware * Bowers, India ...

* East Delavan * Fairfield (partial) *

Inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

* Heart Prairie * Hilburn * Honey Creek (partial) *

Honey Lake Honey Lake is an endorheic basin, endorheic sink (geography), sink in the Honey Lake Valley in northeastern California, near the Nevada border. Summer evaporation reduces the lake to a lower level of and creates an alkali flat. Honey Lake dries ...

(partial) * La Grange * Lake Beulah *

Lake Como Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...

* Lake Lawn *

Lauderdale Lauderdale is the valley of the Leader Water (a tributary of the River Tweed, Tweed) in the Scottish Borders. It contains the town of Lauder, as well as Earlston. The valley is traversed from end to end by the A68 road, A68 trunk road, which run ...

* Lauderdale Shores * Linton * Little Prairie * Millard * North Bloomfield * Pell Lake * Powers Lake *

* Spring Prairie * Tibbets *

* Troy Center * Voree * Zenda

Ghost towns

* Army Lake * Mayhews

Politics

Owing to its

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...

heritage, which contrasts with the

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

or Scandinavian-American character of most of Wisconsin, Walworth County was initially a stronghold of the

Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party, also called the Free Democratic Party or the Free Democracy, was a political party in the United States from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. The party was focused o ...

.Fowler, Robert Booth; ''Wisconsin Votes: An Electoral History, Volume 3'', p. 11 It voted for

Martin van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

and

John P. Hale John Parker Hale (March 31, 1806November 19, 1873) was an American politician and lawyer from New Hampshire. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and in the United States Senate from 1847 to 1853 and again fro ...

in Wisconsin's first two presidential elections,Beckwith, Albert Clayton; ''History of Walworth County, Wisconsin'' pp. 98-99 Published 1912 by B.F. Bowen and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana and its opposition to the spread of slavery led to its population voting Republican in subsequent elections, even resisting the appeal of Wisconsin native

Robert La Follette Robert Marion La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), nicknamed "Fighting Bob," was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906. ...

when he carried the state in 1924 as a Progressive.See Phillips, Kevin P.; ''The Emerging Republican Majority'', pp. 441-442 Walworth County remains strongly Republican. The only Democrat to carry the county was

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

in 1912, who won 36 percent of the vote. Even with the GOP mortally divided between President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

, Wilson only won the county by 29 votes. The best Democratic showings since then have been by

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

in 1964 and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in 2008, both of whom received around 48 percent.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

are the only other Democrats since Wilson to cross the 40 percent mark, though

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 ...

came very close in 2020.

Education

School districts include: - ext list/ref> K-12: * Burlington Area School District * Clinton Community School District * Delavan-Darien School District * East Troy Community School District * Elkhorn Area School District * Mukwonago School District *

Palmyra-Eagle Area School District The Palmyra-Eagle Area School District is a school district in the U.S. state of Wisconsin that serves Jefferson, Walworth, and Waukesha counties. The district serves students from the villages of Palmyra and Eagle and the towns of Palmyr ...

* Whitewater School District * Williams Bay School District Secondary: * Big Foot Union High School District * Lake Geneva-Genoa City Union High School District Elementary: * Fontana Joint No. 8 School District * Geneva Joint No. 4 School District * Genoa City Joint No. 2 School District * Lake Geneva Joint No. 1 School District * Linn Joint No. 4 School District * Linn Joint No. 6 School District * Sharon Joint No. 11 School District * Walworth Joint No. 1 School District Wisconsin School for the Deaf, a state-operated school, is in the county.

References

External links

Walworth County

Walworth County map
from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Travel Guide for Lake Geneva and Walworth County, WI

Combination Atlas Map, 1873
{{authority control 1839 establishments in Wisconsin Territory Populated places established in 1839