Vernon 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 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 30,714. 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 Viroqua.

History

Vernon County was renamed from Bad Ax County on March 22, 1862. Bad Ax County had been created on March 1, 1851, from territory that had been part of Richland and Crawford counties. The name ''Vernon'' was chosen to reflect the county's green fields of wheat and to evoke

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

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 (3.0%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 14 * U.S. Highway 61 * Highway 27 (Wisconsin) * Highway 33 (Wisconsin) * Highway 35 (Wisconsin) * Highway 56 (Wisconsin) * Highway 80 (Wisconsin) * Highway 82 (Wisconsin) * Highway 131 (Wisconsin) * Highway 162 (Wisconsin)

Railroads

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

Buses

Scenic Mississippi Regional Transit Scenic Mississippi Regional Transit or SMRT is a commuter bus system serving the Driftless Area of Wisconsin. It provides four routes which serve Crawford County, La Crosse County, Monroe County and Vernon County. It was recognized by Wisco ...

Airports

* Viroqua Municipal Airport (Y51) serves the county and surrounding communities. * The Joshua Sanford Field airport (~~KHBW~~) closed on November 10, 2016.

Adjacent counties

* La Crosse Countynorthwest * Monroe Countynorth * Juneau Countynortheast *

Sauk County Sauk County is a county (United States), county in Wisconsin. It is named after a large village of the Sauk people. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 65,763. Its county seat and largest city is Baraboo, Wiscon ...

east * Richland Countysoutheast * Crawford Countysouth * Allamakee County, Iowasouthwest * Houston County, Minnesotawest

Demographics and religion statistics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 30,714. 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 13,813 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.4%

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 ...

, 0.4%

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 ...

, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% Native American, 0.8% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 1.5%

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 A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 28,056 people, 10,825 households, and 7,501 families residing in the county. The

was . There were 12,416 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.81%

, 0.06%

, 0.15% Native American, 0.21% 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 ...

, 0.27% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races. 0.66% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 38.3% were of Norwegian, 26.9%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 6.4% Irish and 6.1% English ancestry. 90.9% spoke English, 3.5%

, 1.8% Norwegian, 1.2%

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate (region), Palatina ...

and 1.0% Spanish as their first language. There were 10,825 households, out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.70% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.70% were non-families. 26.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.11. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.40% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.60 males. In 2017, there were 434 births, giving a general fertility rate of 90.5 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the fourth highest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. Of these births, 123 occurred at home, second only to Clark County which had 184 home births. In 2010, the largest religious groups by reported number of adherents were ELCA Lutheran at 6,735 adherents, Catholic at 3,060 adherents, Amish at 2,786 adherents, United Methodist at 1,533 adherents, Wisconsin Synod Lutheran at 1,402 adherents, and Non-denominational Christian at 766 adherents.

Religion

Economy

The county is home to the headquarters of

Organic Valley Organic Valley (OV) is an organic food brand and independent agricultural cooperative, cooperative of Organic farming, organic farmers based in La Farge, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1988 and it is the largest farmer owned organic colle ...

, the world's largest cooperative of family farmers.

Parks

Vernon County is home to multiple county and state parks. The Kickapoo Valley Reserve, an 8600-acre natural reserve, is between the villages of La Farge and Ontario. Wildcat Mountain State Park is also in the county.

County Parks and Forests

* Blackhawk Park * Duck Egg County Forest * Esofea/Rentz Memorial Park * Jersey Valley Park * Kooyumjian - Lost Creek County Forest * Runge Hollow Recreation Area * Sidie Hollow Park * Wayside Park & Coon Prairie Trail

Communities

Cities

* Hillsboro * Viroqua (county seat) * Westby

Villages

* Chaseburg * Coon Valley * De Soto (partly in Crawford County) *

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

* La Farge *

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

* Readstown * Stoddard *

Viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

(mostly in Richland County)

Towns

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

* Christiana * Clinton * Coon *

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

* Franklin *

* Greenwood *

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

* Hillsboro * Jefferson * Kickapoo *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Stark * Sterling * Union * Viroqua * Webster * Wheatland * Whitestown

Unincorporated communities

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

* Bloomingdale *

Bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or Plant embryogenesis, embryonic Shoot (botany), shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a Plant stem, stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormancy, dormant conditi ...

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

* Dilly * Esofea * Fargo *

Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jers ...

* Greenwood * Kickapoo Center *

* Liberty Pole *

Mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( ; ; ), sometimes spelled Mount Thabor, is a large hill of biblical significance in Lower Galilee, Northern District (Israel), northern Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bi ...

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

* Newton * Pleasant Valley * Purdy * Red Mound * Retreat * Rockton * Romance * Ross * Springville * Sugar Grove * Trippville * Tunnelville (partial) *

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

Victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

* West Prairie * White City

Gallery

Image:RoundBarnHillsboroWisconsin.jpg, Round barn near Hillsboro Image:VernonCountyWisconsinCountrysideWIS80.jpg, Farm and countryside near Hillsboro, along Wisconsin Highway 80 Image:Vernon County jail.jpg, Vernon County jail in

Viroqua, Wisconsin Viroqua is the county seat of Vernon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,504 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is in the Viroqua (town), Wisconsin, town of Viroqua. Etymology The town was originally name ...

Politics

Vernon County had been a Democratic-leaning county since the 1988 presidential election, but 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 ...

won a plurality of the vote in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and a majority of the vote 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 ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

Vernon County

Vernon County map
from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Vernon County Health and Demographic Data

Vernon County Broadcaster
{{authority control Wisconsin counties on the Mississippi River 1851 establishments in Wisconsin Populated places established in 1851