Douglas County vs Polk County

A side-by-side comparison of Douglas County and Polk County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Polk County has the higher population (45,327 vs 44,197 in Douglas County). Polk County has the higher median household income ($76,208 vs $72,579 in Douglas County). Polk County has the higher median home value ($241,200 vs $190,400 in Douglas County).

Population, income & housing

	Douglas County	Polk County
Population	44,197	45,327
Median age	42.8 yrs	46.5 yrs
Median household income	$72,579	$76,208
Median home value	$190,400	$241,200
Median gross rent	$903	$958
Housing units	22,997	24,377
Homeownership rate	72.1%	81.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.8%	23.7%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	3.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Douglas County	Polk County
Population	43,295 → 44,197 (+2.1%)	43,438 → 45,327 (+4.3%)
Median household income	$53,986 → $72,579 (+34.4%)	$59,994 → $76,208 (+27.0%)
Median home value	$145,800 → $190,400 (+30.6%)	$169,700 → $241,200 (+42.1%)
Median gross rent	$766 → $903 (+17.9%)	$756 → $958 (+26.7%)

Douglas County

Population

43,29544,197

Median household income

$53,986$72,579

Median home value

$145,800$190,400

Median gross rent

$766$903

Polk County

Population

43,43845,327

Median household income

$59,994$76,208

Median home value

$169,700$241,200

Median gross rent

$756$958

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Douglas County	Polk County
Under 5	4.5%	4.6%
5 to 17	14.8%	15.6%
18 to 24	8.4%	6.5%
25 to 34	12.3%	10.0%
35 to 44	12.7%	11.8%
45 to 54	12.0%	12.6%
55 to 64	15.2%	17.0%
65 to 74	12.6%	13.5%
75 and over	7.5%	8.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Douglas County	Polk County
White (non-Hispanic)	90.2%	93.5%
Black or African American	1.3%	0.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.2%	0.4%
Asian	1.1%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.2%
Two or more races	4.2%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	1.9%	2.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Douglas County	Polk County
No high school diploma	5.4%	6.4%
High school graduate	29.5%	34.0%
Some college or associate's	37.4%	35.9%
Bachelor's degree	20.0%	16.9%
Graduate or professional degree	7.8%	6.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Douglas County	Polk County
Drove alone	76.4%	79.0%
Carpooled	10.6%	7.4%
Public transit	0.9%	0.1%
Walked	3.9%	2.2%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.2%
Worked from home	7.6%	10.4%
Other means	0.6%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Douglas County	Polk County
1-unit, detached	74.7%	81.7%
1-unit, attached	2.0%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	7.6%	4.0%
5 to 19 units	6.1%	3.2%
20 or more units	5.0%	2.2%
Mobile home & other	4.7%	6.6%

Poverty & households

	Douglas County	Polk County
Poverty rate	10.4%	8.3%
Average household size	2.27	2.38
Mean commute (minutes)	22	30
Median year structure built	1970	1980