Barron County vs Waupaca County

A side-by-side comparison of Barron County and Waupaca County: population, income, housing, and more.

Barron County and Waupaca County are counties in Wisconsin. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Waupaca County has the higher population (51,714 vs 46,741 in Barron County). Waupaca County has the higher median household income ($71,189 vs $64,619 in Barron County). Barron County has the higher median home value ($198,300 vs $192,800 in Waupaca County).

Population, income & housing

	Barron County	Waupaca County
Population	46,741	51,714
Median age	44.8 yrs	45.4 yrs
Median household income	$64,619	$71,189
Median home value	$198,300	$192,800
Median gross rent	$859	$834
Housing units	23,966	25,620
Homeownership rate	76.8%	74.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.3%	20.2%
Unemployment rate	3.1%	3.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Barron County	Waupaca County
Population	45,229 → 46,741 (+3.3%)	51,245 → 51,714 (+0.9%)
Median household income	$52,703 → $64,619 (+22.6%)	$58,693 → $71,189 (+21.3%)
Median home value	$153,200 → $198,300 (+29.4%)	$149,900 → $192,800 (+28.6%)
Median gross rent	$705 → $859 (+21.8%)	$698 → $834 (+19.5%)

Barron County

Population

45,22946,741

Median household income

$52,703$64,619

Median home value

$153,200$198,300

Median gross rent

$705$859

Waupaca County

Population

51,24551,714

Median household income

$58,693$71,189

Median home value

$149,900$192,800

Median gross rent

$698$834

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Barron County	Waupaca County
Under 5	5.2%	5.1%
5 to 17	16.1%	15.2%
18 to 24	7.3%	6.8%
25 to 34	10.2%	10.9%
35 to 44	11.4%	11.6%
45 to 54	11.4%	12.9%
55 to 64	15.3%	16.6%
65 to 74	13.3%	12.3%
75 and over	9.8%	8.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Barron County	Waupaca County
White (non-Hispanic)	91.2%	92.7%
Black or African American	1.4%	0.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	0.5%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.2%
Two or more races	3.1%	2.2%
Hispanic or Latino	3.0%	3.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Barron County	Waupaca County
No high school diploma	8.3%	8.0%
High school graduate	35.0%	43.0%
Some college or associate's	34.5%	28.8%
Bachelor's degree	14.8%	15.0%
Graduate or professional degree	7.5%	5.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Barron County	Waupaca County
Drove alone	75.7%	81.8%
Carpooled	11.6%	6.3%
Public transit	0.1%	0.1%
Walked	3.5%	3.0%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.1%
Worked from home	8.2%	7.5%
Other means	0.9%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Barron County	Waupaca County
1-unit, detached	79.4%	78.1%
1-unit, attached	2.6%	1.5%
2 to 4 units	5.7%	6.6%
5 to 19 units	4.2%	7.0%
20 or more units	2.7%	2.1%
Mobile home & other	5.4%	4.7%

Poverty & households

	Barron County	Waupaca County
Poverty rate	9.9%	10.1%
Average household size	2.35	2.25
Mean commute (minutes)	21	25
Median year structure built	1976	1975