Jackson County vs Vilas County

A side-by-side comparison of Jackson County and Vilas County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Vilas County has the higher population (23,410 vs 20,971 in Jackson County). Vilas County has the higher median household income ($67,132 vs $65,508 in Jackson County). Vilas County has the higher median home value ($270,700 vs $186,900 in Jackson County).

Population, income & housing

	Jackson County	Vilas County
Population	20,971	23,410
Median age	42.6 yrs	55.5 yrs
Median household income	$65,508	$67,132
Median home value	$186,900	$270,700
Median gross rent	$789	$810
Housing units	9,693	24,783
Homeownership rate	77.4%	83.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.3%	30.5%
Unemployment rate	5.3%	4.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jackson County	Vilas County
Population	20,522 → 20,971 (+2.2%)	21,751 → 23,410 (+7.6%)
Median household income	$53,650 → $65,508 (+22.1%)	$47,072 → $67,132 (+42.6%)
Median home value	$135,900 → $186,900 (+37.5%)	$202,900 → $270,700 (+33.4%)
Median gross rent	$674 → $789 (+17.1%)	$699 → $810 (+15.9%)

Jackson County

Population

20,52220,971

Median household income

$53,650$65,508

Median home value

$135,900$186,900

Median gross rent

$674$789

Vilas County

Population

21,75123,410

Median household income

$47,072$67,132

Median home value

$202,900$270,700

Median gross rent

$699$810

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Jackson County	Vilas County
Under 5	5.7%	4.0%
5 to 17	15.9%	12.5%
18 to 24	7.0%	4.8%
25 to 34	12.2%	7.9%
35 to 44	11.7%	8.8%
45 to 54	12.3%	10.7%
55 to 64	15.3%	20.0%
65 to 74	11.8%	19.1%
75 and over	8.1%	12.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jackson County	Vilas County
White (non-Hispanic)	85.6%	85.2%
Black or African American	1.5%	0.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	4.7%	8.2%
Asian	0.6%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more races	3.5%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	3.6%	2.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jackson County	Vilas County
No high school diploma	7.6%	3.9%
High school graduate	44.3%	31.1%
Some college or associate's	31.9%	34.5%
Bachelor's degree	10.9%	19.7%
Graduate or professional degree	5.4%	10.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jackson County	Vilas County
Drove alone	78.5%	77.7%
Carpooled	9.3%	6.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.2%
Walked	3.2%	3.8%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.5%
Worked from home	7.4%	10.8%
Other means	1.4%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jackson County	Vilas County
1-unit, detached	79.6%	87.5%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	1.5%
2 to 4 units	3.6%	2.3%
5 to 19 units	1.9%	2.2%
20 or more units	2.3%	0.5%
Mobile home & other	11.5%	5.9%

Poverty & households

	Jackson County	Vilas County
Poverty rate	12.6%	10.9%
Average household size	2.41	2.13
Mean commute (minutes)	25	20
Median year structure built	1978	1980