Portage County, Wisconsin

Portage County, Wisconsin
Portage County Courthouse in Stevens Point
Location in the U.S. state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin's location in the U.S.
Founded	1844
Seat	Stevens Point
Largest city	Stevens Point
Area
• Total	823 sq mi (2,132 km2)
• Land	801 sq mi (2,075 km2)
• Water	22 sq mi (57 km2), 2.7%
Population
• (2010)	70,019
• Density	87/sq mi (34/km²)
Congressional district	3rd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.portage.wi.us

Portage County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 70,019. Its county seat is Stevens Point.

Portage County comprises the Stevens Point, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Wausau-Stevens Point-Wisconsin Rapids, WI Combined Statistical Area.

Portage County was created from the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 and organized in 1844. Like the city of Portage, Portage County is named for the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers; Portage County originally included the portage and Portage but boundary changes detached the county from its namesake.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 823 square miles (2,130 km²), of which 801 square miles (2,070 km²) is land and 22 square miles (57 km²) (2.7%) is water.

As of the census of 2000, there were 67,182 people, 25,040 households, and 16,501 families residing in the county. The population density was 83 people per square mile (32/km²). There were 26,589 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.73% White, 0.32% Black or African American, 0.36% Native American, 2.25% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 1.44% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 32.8% were of Polish, 31.6% German, 5.4% Norwegian and 5.0% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 93.9% spoke English, 1.7% Spanish, 1.6% Polish and 1.3% Hmong as their first language.