Richland County, Wisconsin

Richland County, Wisconsin
Richland County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin's location in the U.S.
Founded	1850
Seat	Richland Center
Largest city	Richland Center
Area
• Total	589 sq mi (1,526 km2)
• Land	586 sq mi (1,518 km2)
• Water	3.1 sq mi (8 km2), 0.5%
Population
• (2010)	18,021
• Density	31/sq mi (12/km²)
Congressional districts	2nd, 3rd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	co.richland.wi.us/index.shtml

Richland County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,021. Its county seat is Richland Center. The county was created from the Wisconsin Territory in 1842 and organized in 1850. It is named for the high quality of its soil. Some rural areas in the county have their power provided by the Richland Electric Cooperative.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 589 square miles (1,530 km²), of which 586 square miles (1,520 km²) is land and 3.1 square miles (8.0 km²) (0.5%) is water.

Richland Airport (93C) serves the county and surrounding communities.

As of the census of 2000, there were 17,924 people, 7,118 households, and 4,833 families residing in the county. The population density was 31 people per square mile (12/km²). There were 8,164 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.39% White, 0.15% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.28% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. 0.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 37.7% were of German, 12.5% Norwegian, 10.3% Irish, 9.5% English and 8.8% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 97.1% spoke English, 1.1% German and 1.1% Spanish as their first language.