58,113 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.7% since 2020)
766 square miles of land · 76 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.
26 active community water systems list Columbia County in the area they serve, reporting 38,266 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PORTAGE WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1110039 | 10,437 served |
| COLUMBUS UTILITIES groundwater · local government · WI1110038 | 5,173 served |
| WISCONSIN DELLS WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1110113 | 3,232 served |
| LODI WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1110100 | 3,146 served |
| POYNETTE WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1110037 | 2,520 served |
| PARDEEVILLE WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1110049 | 2,151 served |
| HARMONY GROVE SAN DIST groundwater · local government · WI1110101 | 1,950 served |
| RANDOLPH WATER DEPT groundwater · local government · WI1110125 | 1,800 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 136 people were held in Columbia County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 369 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 138.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Columbia County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $37.3 million — $29.5 million to run schools, about $13,962 per student, plus $4.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.6 million local (mostly property tax), $19.8 million state, $3.9 million federal.
Spent $24.8 million — $22.6 million to run schools, about $15,181 per student, plus $381,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $16.7 million local (mostly property tax), $10.6 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.9 million.
Spent $16.1 million — $13.5 million to run schools, about $13,455 per student, plus $200,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.3 million local (mostly property tax), $8.9 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $24.4 million.
Spent $14.1 million — $11.7 million to run schools, about $13,532 per student, plus $134,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6 million local (mostly property tax), $7.6 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.9 million.
Spent $8.4 million — $6.8 million to run schools, about $13,591 per student, plus $122,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.4 million local (mostly property tax), $5 million state, $868,000 federal. Long-term debt: $7.3 million.
Spent $7.6 million — $6.4 million to run schools, about $17,747 per student, plus $118,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.4 million local (mostly property tax), $4 million state, $744,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.9 million.
Spent $7.9 million — $6.3 million to run schools, about $20,230 per student, plus $166,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.3 million local (mostly property tax), $3.9 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $585,000.
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: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Columbia County about $51.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
182 bridges in Columbia County: 46 in good condition, 119 fair, and 17 poor (9.3%). “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.
| CTH J over SPRING CREEK · built 1956 | 792 vehicles a day |
| CTH CM over FOX RIVER · built 1958 | 500 vehicles a day |
| CTH CM over NEENAH CREEK · built 1959 | 500 vehicles a day |
| CTH VJ over ROCKY RUN CREEK · built 1956 | 470 vehicles a day |
| CTH X over BIG SLOUGH · built 1958 | 451 vehicles a day |
| CTH CD over S BR CRAWFISH RIVER · built 1969 | 228 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $34.8 million of work in Columbia County in fiscal 2025, about $595 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 Columbia 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 Columbia County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Wisconsin: the state government and every county in Wisconsin.
Nearby counties: Marquette County (25 mi) · Green Lake County (28 mi) · Dane County (28 mi) · Sauk County (31 mi) · Dodge County (32 mi) · Adams County (41 mi).