City of Loyal, Clark County, Wisconsin: Place Profile

The municipality is the City of Loyal, an incorporated city in Clark County, Wisconsin (Census place GEOID 5546075).

The City of Loyal is distinct from the Town of Loyal, a separate civil town in Clark County (2020 Census population 790; 34.721 square miles of land) that surrounds the city.

The City of Loyal covers 1.335 square miles of land and no recorded water area.

The city's Census internal point is near 44.736526, -90.495618.

Loyal lies in east central Clark County, about 13 miles northwest of Marshfield and almost 14 miles south of State Highway 29; State Highway 98 bisects the city east to west and runs through downtown on Main Street.

There are no rail lines or airports in the City of Loyal; the nearest active rail line runs through Spencer (10 miles east) and the nearest airport is Neillsville Municipal Airport, 12 miles south in straight-line distance, with Marshfield Airport 17 miles southeast.

County Highway K, signed as Main Street in the city, is the north-south route, reaching County Highway P and State Highway 29 to the north and State Highway 73 to the south; State Highway 98, a designated long truck route, connects the City of Greenwood to the City of Spencer.

City offices and the post office use the ZIP code 54446.

The 2020 Census counted 1,203 residents in the City of Loyal.

The Wisconsin DOA estimates the City of Loyal's population at 1,192 as of January 1, 2025.

The Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 estimate for Loyal is 1,187 residents on July 1, 2024 (2020 estimates base 1,204).

The ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimate of Loyal's population is 1,361 (+/-242).

The ACS 2019-2023 median age in Loyal is 43.2 years (+/-10.5).

The ACS 2019-2023 median household income in Loyal is $63,750 (+/-$8,959).

The ACS 2019-2023 median value of owner-occupied homes in Loyal is $114,700 (+/-$9,468).

Loyal has a mayor and an eight-member Common Council, with four alderpersons from each of two wards.

Carmen Englebretson is Mayor of Loyal.

Alderpersons are Amanda Stephens, Curtiss Lindner, Dave Geier, and Timothy Froeba (1st Ward), and Greg Brock, Gwen Klevgard, Kirsti Clements, and Tom Bobrofsky (2nd Ward).

Shannon Toufar is Clerk/Treasurer (715-255-8772, [email address]); Viki Pieper is Deputy Clerk and handles public works.

Loyal has its own police department in the Municipal Building at 301 N Main Street, led by Police Chief Matthew Kubista; it keeps a full-time School Resource Officer and a mutual aid agreement with the Greenwood Police Department.

The Common Council meets on the third Tuesday of each month; the September 15, 2026 meeting was set for 6:30 p.m. at Loyal City Hall.

Standing committees reporting to the council include Utility, Police/Fire & Ambulance, Finance/City View Estates, Library, Personnel, Park & Recreation, and the Planning Commission.

Council agendas and minutes are posted on the city website as Word documents, with agendas and minutes available for 2020 through 2026; each agenda carries a 'Verify posting' item.

The city's official website is loyalwi.com.

The Loyal City Council adopted the 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan by ordinance on August 18, 2026; it updates a 2005 plan and was prepared with the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

The School District of Loyal (NCES 5508250) enrolled 468 students in three schools in 2024-2025, with 43.15 FTE classroom teachers; NCES codes its locale as Rural, Remote.

Loyal Elementary, Loyal Middle School, and Loyal High School share one campus at 514 W Central Street.

The Loyal and Greenwood school districts have explored consolidation; a binding consolidation question is on the November 2026 ballot, and if it passes the districts would complete the process in 2028.

Private schools serving the city are St. Anthony's Catholic School (grades K4 to 6) and three Amish schools (Pine Ridge, Rock Creek, and Spring Creek, grades 1 to 8).

The city developed around logging and dairy, and the comprehensive plan describes dairy processing and agricultural business as very important to residents for employment.

The largest employers in the city are the School District of Loyal, Braun Concrete & Excavating, Roth Manufacturing Company, St. Anthony's School, and Northside Elevator, per Wisconsin DWD as cited in the comprehensive plan.

In 2023 about 87 percent of employed residents commuted outside the city for their primary job, while about 91 percent of people working in Loyal lived elsewhere; the Census-estimated 2023 unemployment rate was 2.8 percent.

The city is developing a new industrial park; an engineering presentation on it was on the September 15, 2026 Utility Committee agenda, and the plan describes a growing industrial park and a revitalized downtown.

Clark County had 779 business establishments and 9,517 paid employees in 2023, including 3,947 in manufacturing.

The Tribune Record Gleaner, published on the Central Wisconsin News site centralwinews.com, is the newspaper covering Loyal; its site posted e-editions dated September 2, 9, and 16, 2026.

The Loyal Unified Fire Department, at 603 N Wolf Street in the northern industrial park, is staffed by 28 volunteer firefighters and serves the City of Loyal, the Town of Loyal, and the Town of Beaver.

The Loyal Ambulance Service shares the fire department facility, has 14 volunteers, and holds mutual aid agreements with EMS providers in Greenwood, Spencer, Owen, and Neillsville.

Marshfield Clinic has a family medical center on the northeast side of the city; there is no hospital in Loyal, and the nearest hospitals are in Marshfield, Neillsville, Medford, Wausau, and Stanley.

The Loyal Public Library is downtown at 214 N Main Street in a roughly 6,500-square-foot building; its 2022 annual report counted 5,218 visits and more than 16,000 items borrowed, and it belongs to the Wisconsin Valley Library Service.

The Loyal Post Office is downtown at 327 N Main Street.

City Hall is the Municipal Building at 301 N Main Street; the 2020 Clark County hazard plan notes it serves as the city's Emergency Operations Center and lacked a generator.

As of 2025 the municipal water system had 42,240 feet of water main, 512 meters, and 102 fire hydrants.

Loyal has three city parks; West Side Community Park has two baseball fields, a small golf course, a volleyball court, a sheltered pavilion, and a Veterans Memorial funded by the sale of engraved bricks.

Bear Creek flows through the city; a city-owned dam on the creek near the Festival Grounds is rated a high hazard dam.

The Loyal Corn Festival is held the last weekend of August, with truck and tractor pulls, horse and kids pedal pulls, a run/walk, live music, a carnival, all-you-can-eat sweet corn on Saturday and Sunday, and a Sunday parade at 12:30.

Loyal Cornfest 2026 ran August 28 to 30 near the city parking lot by 302 N Union Street, with an NTPA truck and tractor pull on Saturday night.

The city site says September brings a classic car show.

Civic groups listed by the city include the Loyal Historical Society, Loyal Legion Auxiliary Club, Loyal Lions Club, Cub Scout Pack 49, Girl Scouts, and two 4-H clubs.

Loyal was named for the patriotism of pioneer men who went to protect the Union in the Civil War, and the city dates its establishment to 1870.

Wikipedia reports that Loyal was platted in 1885, incorporated as a village in 1893, and changed to a city in 1948.

The Loyal Area Historical Society keeps a museum and several historic buildings, including a schoolhouse, gas station, train station, and water tower, on State Highway 98 along E Elm Drive.

No buildings or sites in the city are listed on the State or National Register of Historic Places; eighteen sites appear on the Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory.