Administrative divisions of Wisconsin

The administrative divisions of Wisconsin include counties, cities, villages and towns. In Wisconsin, all of these are units of general-purpose local government. There are also a number of special-purpose districts formed to handle regional concerns, such as school districts.

Whether a community is a city, village or town is not strictly dependent on the community's population or area, but on the form of government selected by the residents and approved by the Wisconsin State Legislature. Cities and villages can overlap county boundaries; for example, the city of Whitewater is located in Walworth and Jefferson counties.

The county is the primary political subdivision of Wisconsin. Every county has a county seat, often a populous or centrally located city or village, where the government offices for the county are located. Within each county are cities, villages and towns. As of 2016, Wisconsin had 72 counties.

A Board of Supervisors is the main legislative entity of the county. Supervisors are elected in nonpartisan elections for two-year terms (except in Milwaukee County where the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors served four years). In May 2013, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill that will reduce the terms of office from four years to two years for the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. The type of executive official in each county varies: 11 counties have a County Executive elected in a nonpartisan election for a four-year term; 20 counties have appointed County Administrators; and 41 have appointed Administrative Coordinators. Other officials include sheriffs, district attorneys, clerks, treasurers, coroners, surveyors, registers of deeds, and clerks of circuit court; these officers are elected for four-year terms. In most counties, elected coroners have been replaced by appointed medical examiners. State law permits counties to appoint a registered land surveyor in place of electing a surveyor.

Counties are generally responsible for social services, such as child welfare, job training, and care of the elderly; and public land management, such as care of parks. Law enforcement and road maintenance are also administered by the county, in conjunction with local municipalities. While cities and villages have certain powers based on the Wisconsin state constitution, the state legislature has granted various powers to counties and towns. These powers represent the sum of what counties can do and it is feasible that the legislature could revoke particular powers. (In short, cities and villages have home rule but counties and towns do not.)

As of October 18, 2022, 68 of the state's 72 counties also maintain their own sales tax separate from the state for items such as local county road maintenance, usually averaging around .1-.5% in addition to the state 5% sales tax.

In Wisconsin, a city is an autonomous incorporated area within one or more counties. It provides almost all services to its residents and has the highest degree of home rule and taxing jurisdiction of all municipalities. Cities are generally more urbanized than towns. As of 2015, Wisconsin had 190 cities.

The home rule authority granted to cities allows them to make their own decision about their affairs, administration and much of their public policy, subject to state law.