Douglas County, Wisconsin

Douglas County is a county in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,295. Its county seat is Superior. Douglas County is included in the Duluth, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Douglas County, named after Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas, was established on February 8, 1854, from the larger La Pointe County, Wisconsin, and the City of Superior was immediately selected as the county seat.

In Wisconsin's 1952 U.S. Senate primary, Douglas County was one of two counties (out of 71 in the state at the time) that Sen. Joe McCarthy did not carry.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,480 square miles (3,800 km²), of which 1,304 square miles (3,380 km²) is land and 176 square miles (460 km²) (12%) is water.

Part of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation is in Douglas County.

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 44,295. The median age was 42.1 years. 19.5% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.0 males age 18 and over.

The population density was 34.0 people per square mile (13.1 people/km²). There were 22,906 housing units at an average density of 17.6 units per square mile (6.8 units/km²).

The racial makeup of the county was 89.7% White, 1.3% Black or African American, 1.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.6% from some other race, and 5.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.7% of the population.