St. Croix County, Wisconsin | |
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 Location within the U.S. state ofWisconsin | |
| Coordinates:45°02′N92°27′W / 45.04°N 92.45°W /45.04; -92.45 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Wisconsin |
| Founded | 1849 |
| Named after | St. Croix River |
| Seat | Hudson |
| Largest city | Hudson |
| Area | |
• Total | 736 sq mi (1,910 km2) |
| • Land | 722 sq mi (1,870 km2) |
| • Water | 13 sq mi (34 km2) 1.8% |
| Population | |
• Total | 93,536 |
• Estimate (2024) | 97,954 |
| • Density | 129.5/sq mi (50.0/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 7th |
| Website | www |
St. Croix County is acounty in theU.S. state ofWisconsin. As of the2020 census, the population was 93,536.[1] Itscounty seat isHudson.[2] The county was created in 1840 (then in theWisconsin Territory) and organized in 1849.[3] St. Croix County is part of theMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington,MN-WIMetropolitan Statistical Area. Between 2000 and 2010, it was Wisconsin's fastest-growing county.[4] Its growth has continued since 2010 in part due to people moving out of the central Minneapolis-St. Paul counties and into St. Croix County.[5]
St. Croix County was created on August 3, 1840,[6] by the legislature of theWisconsin Territory. It was named after the river on its western border.[7] Sources vary on the name's origin. TheSt. Croix River may have been named after an explorer named St. Croix who drowned at the river's mouth in the late 17th century. According to another account,Father Hennepin gave this region the French nameSte Croix (Holy Cross) because of the burial markers at the river's mouth.[8]
La Pointe County (now extinct, seeBayfield County) was created from the northern portions of Wisconsin Territory's St. Croix County on February 19, 1845.[9] When Wisconsin was admitted into the union as a state on May 29, 1848, the territorial St. Croix County was further divided, with the territory from the Mississippi River to the Minnesota border remaining de facto Wisconsin Territory until on March 3, 1849,[10][11][12] it and unorganized federal territory north of Iowa were used in the creation of theMinnesota Territory.[13]Itasca,Washington,Ramsey andBenton Counties were created by the Minnesota Territory on October 27, 1849,[14] from the de facto Wisconsin Territory that had been separated from the Wisconsin Territory's La Pointe County.
The part of St. Croix County allocated to Wisconsin became the parental county toPierce andPolk Counties, and formed significant portions ofDunn,Barron,Washburn andBurnett Counties.
OnJune 12, 1899, a deadlyF5tornado struckNew Richmond. The tornado's damage path was 400 yards (370 m) wide and 46 miles (74 km) long. The tornado formed on the banks of the St. Croix River, south of Hudson. Moving to the northeast across St. Croix County, the tornado passed through the villages of Burkhardt and Boardman before striking New Richmond head on, leveling the entire business district and half the town's residences. The storm continued northeast, narrowly missing the town of Deer Park before crossing into Polk County, where it narrowly missed the towns of Clear Lake, Richardson, and Clayton. Once the tornado passed into Barron County, it struck the village of Arland before breaking up southwest of Barron. The tornado killed 117 people (four at Boardman, two in Polk County, and the rest at New Richmond), including at least 20 people who died from their injuries in the days after the storm. Largely thanks to state aid and donations, most of the town was rebuilt by the next winter. The tornado was the deadliest ever recorded in Wisconsin and the9th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 736 square miles (1,910 km2), of which 722 square miles (1,870 km2) is land and 13 square miles (34 km2) (1.8%) is water.[15]
New Richmond Regional Airport (KRNH) serves the county and surrounding communities.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1840 | 809 | — | |
| 1850 | 624 | −22.9% | |
| 1860 | 5,392 | 764.1% | |
| 1870 | 11,035 | 104.7% | |
| 1880 | 18,956 | 71.8% | |
| 1890 | 23,139 | 22.1% | |
| 1900 | 26,830 | 16.0% | |
| 1910 | 25,910 | −3.4% | |
| 1920 | 26,106 | 0.8% | |
| 1930 | 25,455 | −2.5% | |
| 1940 | 24,842 | −2.4% | |
| 1950 | 25,905 | 4.3% | |
| 1960 | 29,164 | 12.6% | |
| 1970 | 34,354 | 17.8% | |
| 1980 | 43,262 | 25.9% | |
| 1990 | 50,251 | 16.2% | |
| 2000 | 63,155 | 25.7% | |
| 2010 | 84,345 | 33.6% | |
| 2020 | 93,536 | 10.9% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 97,954 | [16] | 4.7% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[17] 1790–1960[18] 1900–1990[19] 1990–2000[20] 2010–2020[21] | |||
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 93,536 and a median age of 39.9 years. 24.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.0 males age 18 and over.[22]
Thepopulation density was 129.5 people per square mile (50.0 people/km2). There were 37,369 housing units at an average density of 51.7 units per square mile (20.0 units/km2).[1]
The racial makeup of the county was 92.2%White, 0.7%Black or African American, 0.3%American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%Asian, <0.1%Native Hawaiian andPacific Islander, 1.1% from some other race, and 4.5% fromtwo or more races.Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.9% of the population.[23]
36.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 64.0% lived in rural areas.[24]
There were 35,892 households in the county, of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 57.4% were married-couple households, 15.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 19.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[22]
There were 37,369 housing units, of which 4.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 77.4% were owner-occupied and 22.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 3.2%.[22]
As of thecensus[25] of 2000, there were 63,155 people, 23,410 households, and 16,948 families residing in the county. The population density was 88 people per square mile (34 people/km2). There were 24,265 housing units at an average density of 34 units per square mile (13 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.85%White, 0.28%Black orAfrican American, 0.25%Native American, 0.62%Asian, 0.02%Pacific Islander, 0.22% fromother races, and 0.76% from two or more races. 0.76% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race. 34.4% were ofGerman, 19.3%Norwegian, 8.2%Irish and 5.4%Swedish ancestry.
There were 23,410 households, out of which 38.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.60% weremarried couples living together, and 27.60% were non-families. 21.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.90% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 32.20% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 9.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 100.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.50 males.
In 2017, there were 988 births, giving a general fertility rate of 59.0 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the 25th lowest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties.[26][27]
Since 2000, St. Croix County has voted consistently Republican, and starting in 2012 it has done so by double-digit margins. Prior to this, it was a swing county.[28]
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1892 | 2,467 | 47.04% | 2,220 | 42.33% | 557 | 10.62% |
| 1896 | 3,462 | 56.38% | 2,475 | 40.31% | 203 | 3.31% |
| 1900 | 3,368 | 58.98% | 2,076 | 36.36% | 266 | 4.66% |
| 1904 | 3,898 | 68.33% | 1,569 | 27.50% | 238 | 4.17% |
| 1908 | 3,228 | 62.29% | 1,773 | 34.21% | 181 | 3.49% |
| 1912 | 1,728 | 37.18% | 1,806 | 38.86% | 1,114 | 23.97% |
| 1916 | 2,731 | 51.09% | 2,352 | 44.00% | 262 | 4.90% |
| 1920 | 5,601 | 73.34% | 1,638 | 21.45% | 398 | 5.21% |
| 1924 | 3,600 | 39.68% | 718 | 7.91% | 4,755 | 52.41% |
| 1928 | 6,855 | 62.17% | 4,083 | 37.03% | 88 | 0.80% |
| 1932 | 4,059 | 37.94% | 6,374 | 59.58% | 265 | 2.48% |
| 1936 | 4,316 | 38.47% | 4,679 | 41.71% | 2,223 | 19.82% |
| 1940 | 6,857 | 57.74% | 4,898 | 41.24% | 121 | 1.02% |
| 1944 | 5,660 | 53.01% | 4,930 | 46.17% | 88 | 0.82% |
| 1948 | 4,326 | 40.43% | 6,173 | 57.69% | 202 | 1.89% |
| 1952 | 7,607 | 59.78% | 5,094 | 40.03% | 25 | 0.20% |
| 1956 | 6,956 | 55.72% | 5,499 | 44.05% | 29 | 0.23% |
| 1960 | 7,113 | 52.77% | 6,341 | 47.05% | 24 | 0.18% |
| 1964 | 4,565 | 33.92% | 8,864 | 65.86% | 29 | 0.22% |
| 1968 | 6,595 | 46.61% | 6,807 | 48.11% | 746 | 5.27% |
| 1972 | 8,553 | 52.50% | 7,488 | 45.96% | 250 | 1.53% |
| 1976 | 7,685 | 41.16% | 10,601 | 56.77% | 386 | 2.07% |
| 1980 | 9,265 | 42.56% | 10,203 | 46.87% | 2,299 | 10.56% |
| 1984 | 11,367 | 52.54% | 10,127 | 46.81% | 141 | 0.65% |
| 1988 | 9,960 | 46.25% | 11,392 | 52.90% | 181 | 0.84% |
| 1992 | 8,114 | 31.60% | 10,281 | 40.04% | 7,281 | 28.36% |
| 1996 | 8,253 | 35.55% | 11,384 | 49.04% | 3,576 | 15.41% |
| 2000 | 15,240 | 50.88% | 13,077 | 43.66% | 1,637 | 5.47% |
| 2004 | 22,679 | 54.21% | 18,784 | 44.90% | 372 | 0.89% |
| 2008 | 22,837 | 50.95% | 21,177 | 47.25% | 807 | 1.80% |
| 2012 | 25,503 | 55.17% | 19,910 | 43.07% | 812 | 1.76% |
| 2016 | 26,222 | 55.19% | 17,482 | 36.80% | 3,804 | 8.01% |
| 2020 | 32,199 | 56.78% | 23,190 | 40.89% | 1,318 | 2.32% |
| 2024 | 35,537 | 58.60% | 23,870 | 39.36% | 1,235 | 2.04% |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) History of St. Croix CountyPlaces adjacent to St. Croix County, Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofSt. Croix County, Wisconsin,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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| Other | |
