Village of Plover, Portage County, Wisconsin: Place Profile

The municipality is the Village of Plover, an incorporated village in Portage County, Wisconsin (Census place GEOID 5563525).

The Village of Plover is distinct from the Town of Plover in Portage County (county subdivision GEOID 5509763550) and the Town of Plover in Marathon County (5507363500).

The village lies entirely in Portage County.

The Village of Plover covers 10.641 square miles of land and 0.477 square miles of water.

The village's own facts page gives its size as 11.36 square miles (7,273.18 acres).

The Census internal point for the village is near 44.4620 N, 89.5380 W.

The village describes itself as located on the portage between the lower and the upper Wisconsin River.

Plover's ZIP code is 54467, with the post office name Plover, WI.

The village maintains 95.36 miles of streets.

The 2020 Census counted 13,519 residents in the Village of Plover.

The Wisconsin DOA January 1, 2025 final estimate for the village is 14,389, up 870 (6.4 percent) from 2020.

DOA estimates the village's 2025 voting-age population at 11,283.

The Census Bureau's July 1, 2024 estimate for Plover village is 14,208, from a 2020 estimates base of 13,514.

The village reports census populations of 5,310 in 1980, 8,176 in 1990, and 10,520 in 2000, and an estimated 2,618 at incorporation.

The village describes itself as the most populated village in Portage County.

The ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimate of the village's population is 13,713 (margin of error +/-41).

The ACS 2019-2023 median age in the village is 36.4 years (+/-2.0).

The ACS 2019-2023 median household income in the village is $83,139 (+/-$6,209).

The ACS 2019-2023 median value of owner-occupied homes in the village is $244,500 (+/-$11,759).

The village reports a 2021 equalized valuation of $1,291,134,200 and a 2021 assessed valuation of $977,901,030.

Plover is governed by a Village Board of a president and six trustees elected by ward, each serving a two-year term.

Gary Wolf is the Village President.

The trustees are Ross Ballard and Adam Raabe (Ward 1), Tim Durigan and Al Haga (Ward 2), and Steve Fritz and Al Tessmann (Ward 3).

The Village Board meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month in the Plover Municipal Center Board Room, 2400 Post Road.

Steve Kunst is the Village Administrator, whose office implements board policy and prepares the annual budget.

Tammy Wojtalewicz is the Village Clerk, reachable at 715-345-5250; Jasmine Barclift is Deputy Clerk.

Village offices are in the Plover Municipal Building, 2400 Post Road (P.O. Box 37), Plover, WI 54467, open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays; phone 715-345-5250.

The village's official website is ploverwi.gov.

Agendas and minutes post to the Agenda Center on ploverwi.gov, with RSS and Notify Me alerts; board agendas post several days ahead (the September 16, 2026 agenda posted September 11).

The Village Clerk maintains agendas and minutes and prepares publication of legal notices.

Standing committees include Administrative/Personnel, Finance, Public Works, Park Development, Water/Wastewater Utility, a Plan Commission, and a Police and Fire Commission, most meeting on the first or third Monday.

For elections the village is divided into three trustee wards and five county supervisory districts; the polling place is the Municipal Building Activities Room.

The village reports 63 full-time employees.

Adam DeKleyn is the village's Community Development Manager.

The village's public schools belong to the Stevens Point Area Public School District (NCES 5514490), a PK-12 district of 16 schools and 6,911 students in 2024-25.

Plover-Whiting Elementary (PK-6), 1400 Hoover Ave, enrolled 448 students in 2024-25.

Roosevelt Elementary (PK-6), 2200 Wisconsin Ave, Plover, enrolled 522 students in 2024-25.

The district's secondary schools are Ben Franklin and P.J. Jacobs junior highs and Stevens Point Area Senior High (SPASH).

The village's comprehensive plan lists Del Monte Corporation (400-499 employees) and Monogram Foods (300-399) as Plover's largest employers in 2023.

Other major employers in the same 2023 table are Walmart Supercenter and McCain Foods (200-299 each) and Menard's, RR Donnelley, Pointe Precision, Lowe's, and Spee Dee Delivery (100-199 each).

The plan states that major employers represent agri-business, retail trade, manufacturing, entertainment, and education.

Crossroads Commons, a 144-acre retail complex at Interstate 39 and County HH, drew more than 532,000 visitors in 2023, per the village plan.

Commercial development concentrates on Post Road/Business Highway 51, Plover Road/County B, and County HH at Interstate 39.

The village has two industrial parks: the 101-acre Pines Corporate Centre (developed 2003, off State Highway 54) and the Plover Industrial Park (21 filled lots on about 93 acres off County B).

Portage County had 1,715 business establishments and 29,656 paid employees in 2023.

The Plover Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (comeovertoplover.com) promotes the Town and Village of Plover and surrounding communities.

Point/Plover Metro Wire (spmetrowire.com) is a digital news outlet covering Stevens Point and Plover, publishing since at least 2017.

The Portage County Public Library's Plover Branch is at 2151 Roosevelt Drive, open Tuesday through Saturday.

Plover Fire and EMS, at 2400 Post Road, provides fire and rescue service to the Village of Plover, the Village of Whiting, the Town of Plover, and part of the Town of Buena Vista.

The village holds an ISO fire protection rating of 3.

Since April 2018 a Portage County Paramedic Ambulance has operated from Plover, staffed around the clock.

Plover belongs to the Metro Fire District automatic-aid agreement with the City of Stevens Point and the Town of Hull.

The Plover Police Department, 2420 Post Road, opened in June 1975 and has 22 full-time sworn officers and one K9 unit; Ryan S. Fox is Chief of Police.

Aspirus Plover Hospital, with an emergency department, lists its address as 5409 Vern Holmes Drive, Stevens Point, WI 54482.

Aspirus Plover Clinic operates at 2401 Plover Road, Plover.

The village runs a wheelchair-accessible public taxi, with a new provider since January 1, 2026 and a $2 adult fare within village limits.

The village's mechanical wastewater treatment plant began operating March 31, 1987, replacing the lagoon treatment system completed in 1973, which discharged to the Wisconsin River.

Lake Pacawa Park, 3410 Hoover Avenue, holds the Worzella Family Shelter, a bandshell, and pickleball courts, and began permitting food trucks in 2026.

Springville Pond is an 18-acre impoundment of the Little Plover River inside the village, with a maximum depth of 12 feet and public carry-in access on its south shore.

The village convened the Little Plover River Watershed Enhancement Project, which aims to increase the river's flow and improve its aquatic health.

Plover has taken part in the Bird City Wisconsin program since 2012.

The Wisconsin Korean War Veterans Memorial stands on a 2.5-acre island in Lake Pacawa at 1505 Maple Drive; the village has owned and maintained it since the memorial association disbanded after late 2009.

Heritage Park, 2700 Madison Avenue, Plover, is the Portage County Historical Society's site of 11 historic buildings moved from across the county.

The Food and Farm Exploration Center opened in 2023 on 24 acres south of Lake Pacawa Park.

Celebrate Plover is a two-day festival held the last weekend of July, ending Saturday night with fireworks.

Heritage Days, a free weekend festival at Heritage Park, ran June 20-21, 2026.

An annual Homecoming program is held at the Korean War Veterans Memorial island.

The Plover Police Department holds an annual Shop with a Cop each December and joins the countywide Cops-n-Bobbers youth fishing day at Lake Pacawa.

A Lake Pacawa Parkrun was on the Plover area events calendar for September 19, 2026.

Plover was the first village and, in 1844, the first seat of government of present Portage County; it was platted in 1845 and incorporated in 1857.

Plover was disincorporated after Stevens Point replaced it as county seat, reincorporated in 1912 and dissolved soon after, then incorporated again in 1971, each time out of the Town of Plover.

The current village was incorporated on September 20, 1971.

The Village of Plover Fire Department became an official volunteer department on July 5, 1951, and a new municipal center (village offices, an activity center, and police and fire space) was dedicated October 18, 1980.

Two National Register properties are recorded under Plover in Portage County: the J. H. Morgan House (1308 Madison Ave., listed 1974) and the Old Plover Methodist Church (Madison Ave., listed 1980).

The Plover Police Department marked 50 years of service in 2025.