16,838 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.7% since 2020)
1,478 square miles of land · 11 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
6 active community water systems list Bayfield County in the area they serve, reporting 4,313 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WASHBURN WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI8040132 | 2,280 served |
| IRON RIVER SANITARY DISTRICT groundwater · local government · WI8040131 | 600 served |
| DRUMMOND SANITARY DISTRICT groundwater · local government · WI8040129 | 500 served |
| BAYFIELD WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI8040126 | 488 served |
| PORT WING SANITARY DISTRICT groundwater · local government · WI8040094 | 400 served |
| PIKES BAY MARINA groundwater · private · WI8040687 | 45 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 39 people were held in Bayfield County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 425 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 51.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
4 school districts have their office in Bayfield County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $10.5 million — $9.4 million to run schools, about $15,631 per student, plus $114,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $5.6 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $868,000.
Spent $15.4 million — $13.5 million to run schools, about $31,798 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.1 million local (mostly property tax), $3.3 million state, $4.6 million federal.
Spent $6.8 million — $6 million to run schools, about $17,870 per student, plus $7,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.5 million local (mostly property tax), $1.9 million state, $955,000 federal. Long-term debt: $215,000.
Spent $5.5 million — $4.6 million to run schools, about $23,323 per student, plus $175,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.6 million local (mostly property tax), $1.5 million state, $690,000 federal.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Bayfield County about $9.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
103 bridges in Bayfield County: 49 in good condition, 48 fair, and 6 poor (5.8%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| STH 13 over SAND RIVER · built 1956 | 880 vehicles a day |
| STH 13 over FISH CREEK · built 2002 | 670 vehicles a day |
| CTH D over NAMEKAGON LAKE · built 1971 | 575 vehicles a day |
| CTH H over EAGLE LAKE · built 1955 | 431 vehicles a day |
| LRD BIBON RD over WHITE RIVER · built 1984 | 76 vehicles a day |
| LRD EVERGREEN RD over KOLIN CREEK · built 1950 | 65 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $21.3 million of work in Bayfield County in fiscal 2025, about $1,312 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Wisconsin are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Bayfield County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Bayfield County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Wisconsin: the state government and every county in Wisconsin.
Nearby counties: Ashland County (24 mi) · Douglas County (36 mi) · Iron County (48 mi) · Sawyer County (53 mi) · Washburn County (59 mi) · Lake County, MN (62 mi).