Taylor County, Wisconsin: County Profile

Taylor County's census-designated places are Chelsea, Jump River, Westboro, and Whittlesey.

Recreation.gov lists seven federal recreation facilities in Taylor County, including the Eastwood, Picnic Point, Spearhead Point, West Point, and North Twin Lake campgrounds near Westboro and Molitor and the Chippewa campground near Cleveland.

Medford is the county seat of Taylor County, Wisconsin, and the county's only city.

Taylor County was set off on March 4, 1875, from parts of Clark, Marathon, Chippewa, and Lincoln counties.

The county history page gives Taylor County's dimensions as 42 miles long and 24 miles wide, with an area of 979 square miles (628,480 acres).

Sources differ on the origin of the name: the county says it was named either for Governor William R. Taylor or for jurist David Taylor of Sheboygan.

The 1875 act creating the county made the whole county one town, the Town of Medford, whose elected town board acted as the county board.

Taylor County contains 22 towns, 4 villages, and 1 city.

Taylor County's villages were incorporated as follows: Rib Lake 1902, Gilman 1914, Lublin 1915, and Stetsonville 1949; Medford incorporated as a city in 1889.

Jump River, organized in 1923, is the most recently organized of Taylor County's 22 towns, per the county's list of organization dates.

Jim Metz is Chairman of the Taylor County Board of Supervisors.

The Taylor County Board chair is elected by the board for a two-year term in April of every even-numbered year.

The Taylor County Board of Supervisors has 17 supervisory districts.

Andria Farrand (R) is the Taylor County Clerk.

Corey Dassow (R) is the Taylor County Sheriff.

Kristi Tlusty (D) is the Taylor County District Attorney.

Sarah Holtz (R) is the Taylor County Treasurer.

Jaymi S. Kohn (R) is the Taylor County Register of Deeds.

Jill Scheithauer (R) is the Taylor County Clerk of Circuit Court.

The Taylor County Sheriff directs the E-911 Communications Center that receives and dispatches emergency calls for the county.

Taylor County's main offices, including the board, clerk, and sheriff, are at 224 S 2nd St, Medford, WI 54451.

Benjamin Stanfley is the Taylor County Highway Commissioner.

Laura Holmes is Mayor of the City of Medford, per the county's official directory.

Village presidents listed in the county directory are Jane DeStaercke (Gilman), Randy Madlon (Lublin), William Schreiner (Rib Lake), and Greg Brunner (Stetsonville).

Taylor County had a population of 19,913 at the 2020 Census.

Taylor County's final official population estimate for January 1, 2025, was 20,193.

The Census Bureau estimated Taylor County's population at 20,167 as of July 1, 2024.

Taylor County counted 20,689 residents at the 2010 Census, which the state workforce profile identifies as the county's population peak.

Taylor County's population was 1,849 in 1875 and 11,262 in 1900, per the county history page.

The 2025 DWD profile ranks Taylor County 53rd most populous of Wisconsin's 72 counties, with 19,968 residents in the 2023 final estimate.

State projections cited by DWD show Taylor County's population falling 21.4% from 19,913 in 2020 to 15,660 in 2050.

Taylor County's 2022 fertility rate was 73.8 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, the 6th highest of Wisconsin's 72 counties, against 54.2 statewide.

The City of Medford had 4,349 residents at the 2020 Census and a 2025 official estimate of 4,524.

The Town of Medford, the county's most populous town, had 2,482 residents at the 2020 Census and a 2025 estimate of 2,528.

Taylor County's median age is 44.1 (ACS 2019-2023 5-year, margin of error +/-0.4).

Taylor County's median household income is $63,142 (ACS 2019-2023 5-year, margin of error +/-$2,760).

The median value of owner-occupied homes in Taylor County is $186,500 (ACS 2019-2023 5-year, margin of error +/-$5,021).

Taylor County averaged 7,866 jobs in 2023, down 262 (3.2%) from 2018.

Manufacturing is Taylor County's largest industry, accounting for 33.8% of 2023 employment (2,655 jobs).

The state workforce profile names Nestle Pizza, Sierra Pacific Windows, and Marathon Cheese as major employers in Taylor County.

Leisure and hospitality was Taylor County's fastest-growing industry from 2018 to 2023, adding 139 jobs (27.1%).

Taylor County's average unemployment rate in 2023 was 3.7%, above the statewide 3.0%, ranking 53rd of 72 counties.

Taylor County's labor force participation rate was 67.3% in 2023, ranking 17th among Wisconsin counties.

County Business Patterns counted 482 business establishments with 6,986 paid employees in Taylor County in 2023.

Taylor County's 43 manufacturing establishments had 2,627 paid employees in 2023 (County Business Patterns).

Taylor County had 745 farms covering 216,009 acres in 2022, with an average farm size of 290 acres.

Farms in Taylor County sold $172,735,000 of agricultural products in 2022, 68% of it livestock, poultry, and products.

Milk from cows was Taylor County's largest agricultural sales category in 2022 at $90,066,000.

The county history states that in 1933 Taylor County had the highest ratio of farm population to total population of any area in Wisconsin.

In 1880 Taylor County had 7 manufacturing establishments, all producing planed and sawed lumber.

The current Taylor County Courthouse in Medford was completed in November 1914 after the county board approved plans in May 1912 at a cost not to exceed $60,000.

The Taylor County Courthouse in Medford was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 14, 1980.

Taylor County's other National Register listings include the J. W. Benn Building, Medford Free Public Library, Medford Post Office, Big Indian Farms, Jump River Town Hall, Mondeaux Dam Recreation Area, and Saint Ann's Catholic Church and Cemetery.

The Taylor County Forest covers 17,500 acres in the northeast corner of the county and is managed for timber, recreation, wildlife habitat, and watershed protection.

Timber from the Taylor County Forest is dual certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

The Taylor County Forest carries segments of the Ice Age Trail along with ATV, snowmobile, cross-country ski, and hunter walking trails and two campgrounds.

Much of north-central Taylor County lies in the Chequamegon National Forest, designated there in 1933, and includes the Mondeaux Dam Recreation Area built by Civilian Conservation Corps crews.

The Perkinstown Winter Sports Area near Medford is a four-chute hill with a tow rope, plus 9 miles of cross-country and snowshoe trails in the Chequamegon National Forest.

Taylor County Airport, at W5125 Apple Ave near Medford, has a 6,000-foot east-west runway (9-27) and a 4,400-foot north-south runway (16-34).

Northcentral Technical College operates a Medford campus at 1001 Progressive Ave, Medford.

The Taylor County Teachers College, built in 1959, became the University of Wisconsin Center-Medford by 1968 and operated as such until June 1981, after which the facility became an NTC satellite site.

School districts listed as serving Taylor County are Athens, Flambeau, Gilman, Medford, Owen-Withee, Rib Lake, Stanley-Boyd, and Thorp.

Medford Area Public School District schools in the NCES 2023-24 file include Medford High, Medford Middle, Medford Elementary, Stetsonville Elementary, and Rural Virtual Academy.

Taylor County's public library outlets are the Frances L. Simek Memorial Library (Medford), Rib Lake Public Library, Western Taylor County Public Library (Gilman), Jean M. Thomsen Memorial Library (Stetsonville), and Westboro Public Library.

Family Health Center - Medford Dental Center at 843 W Broadway Ave is the county's HRSA-supported health center site.

FM stations with Medford as community of license include WKEB (99.3) and translator W296DL (107.1), both licensed to WIGM, Incorporated.

The Star News of Medford traces to The Taylor County News, established at Medford in March 1875.

The county recognizes A. E. Harder, who arrived in December 1872 in what is now Medford, as Taylor County's first permanent settler.

Taylor County hired its first University of Wisconsin agricultural agent in 1914.