Outagamie County, Wisconsin


Outagamie County is a county in the Fox Cities region of the U.S. state of Wisconsin, in the northeast of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 190,705. Its county seat is Appleton.
Outagamie County is part of the Appleton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is itself part of the Appleton-Neenah-Oshkosh Combined Statistical Area. It was named for the historic Meskwaki people.

History

"Outagamie", a French transliteration of the Anishinaabe term for the Meskwaki people, means "dwellers of the other shore" or "dwellers on the other side of the stream", referring to their historic habitation along the St. Lawrence River and south of the Great Lakes. They occupied considerable territory in Wisconsin before colonization. Outagamie County was created in 1851 and organized in 1852. Before that, it was under the jurisdiction of Brown County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of, of which is land and is water.

Adjacent counties

Rivers

Lakes

  • Black Otter Lake - Located in Hortonville, it receives much recreational use by anglers as the county's only lake.

Government

Outagamie County's government consists of an elected County Board of Supervisors, a County Executive, and 36 county agencies and departments.

County Executive

The county executive serves as its chief executive officer, participating in the legislative process with the County Board of Supervisors and exercising administrative authority and control over the county's operations, departments, offices, boards, programs, and communications.
Department heads are appointed by the county executive, subject to the approval of the board of supervisors. The county executive also appoints members to the county's boards and commissions. The county executive sets the annual budget in consultation with and subject to the approval of the board of supervisors.
County Executive Tom Nelson was first elected in 2011.

Transportation

Major highways

County Highways

Railroads

Buses

Airports

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the population was 190,705. The median age was 38.8 years, with 23.3% of residents under the age of 18 and 15.7% of residents 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.9 males age 18 and over.
The population density was. There were 79,131 housing units at an average density of. 74.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 25.4% lived in rural areas. Among the housing units, 3.7% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 70.0% were owner-occupied and 30.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.0%.
The racial makeup of the county was 86.0% White, 1.6% Black or African American, 1.6% Native Americans in [the United States|American Indian and Alaska Native], 3.5% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.0% from some other race, and 5.3% from two or more races. Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino] residents of any race comprised 4.9% of the population.
There were 76,237 households in the county, of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 52.1% were married-couple households, 17.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 22.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 160,971 people, 60,530 households, and 42,189 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 62,614 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 93.87% White, 0.54% Black or African American, 1.54% Native American, 2.23% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.81% from other races, and 0.98% from two or more races. 1.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 47.7% were of German, 9.4% Dutch, 6.2% Irish and 5.2% American and French-Canadian ancestry.
Of the 60,530 households, 36.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.90% were married couples living together, 7.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.30% were non-families. 24.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.14.
By age, 27.70% of the population was under 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 31.90% from 25 to 44, 20.70% from 45 to 64, and 10.90% were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.90 males.
In 2017, there were 2,204 births, giving a general fertility rate of 64.0 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the 34th highest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. Additionally, there were 136 reported induced abortions performed on women of Outagamie County residence in 2017.

Communities

Cities

Villages

Towns

Census-designated place

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns/neighborhoods

Native American community

Politics

Outagamie County has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in 19 of the last 22 elections.