County Maps US

Sawyer County, Wisconsin

A county in Wisconsin, ranked 56 of 72 by population.

CountyFIPS 55113

Within Wisconsin
Sawyer County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Hayward, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
18,846
+724 (+4.0%) since 2020
Land area
1,258
square miles. A further 6.9% of the total area is water
Population density
15.0
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Hayward
Seat of county government.
Established
1883
142 years ago
Largest city
Hayward city
Population 2,614.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Sawyer County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Sawyer County, Wisconsin from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 696 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Sawyer County ranks

Position among the 72 counties of Wisconsin, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn WisconsinNationally
Population18,84656th of 721,888th of 3,144
Land area1,258 sq mi5th of 72482nd of 3,144
Population density15.0 per sq mi66th of 722,396th of 3,144
Median household income$60,80167th of 722,007th of 3,143

Full data for Sawyer County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population18,846Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202018,122Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?18,084Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area1,258 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area92.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area1,350 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?15.0 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$60,801American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$236,200American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age52.8American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households8,810American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units16,250American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-93
149 births, 242 deaths
Net migration
+150
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 7 areas bordering Sawyer County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Rusk CountyWisconsin42 mi14,146
Washburn CountyWisconsin36 mi17,087
Bayfield CountyWisconsin30 mi16,787
Ashland CountyWisconsin24 mi16,203
Price CountyWisconsin24 mi13,988
Barron CountyWisconsina single point46,484
Douglas CountyWisconsina single point43,990

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 72 counties of Wisconsin

Open the interactive Wisconsin county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.