588,347 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.6% since 2020)
1,196 square miles of land · 492 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.
46 active community water systems list Dane County in the area they serve, reporting 496,723 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MADISON WATER UTILITY groundwater · local government · WI1130224 | 272,000 served |
| SUN PRAIRIE UTILITIES groundwater · local government · WI1130258 | 39,300 served |
| FITCHBURG UTILITY DIST 1 groundwater · local government · WI1130231 | 29,900 served |
| MIDDLETON WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1130242 | 23,868 served |
| WAUNAKEE WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1130265 | 14,879 served |
| VERONA WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1130259 | 14,030 served |
| STOUGHTON WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1130078 | 13,078 served |
| OREGON WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1130251 | 11,200 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 623 people were held in Dane County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2025). In 2020 it was about 537.
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.
15 school districts have their office in Dane County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $699.8 million — $443.1 million to run schools, about $17,557 per student, plus $208.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $329.3 million local (mostly property tax), $166.5 million state, $62.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $200.3 million.
Spent $164.5 million — $131.5 million to run schools, about $15,746 per student, plus $17.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $69.7 million local (mostly property tax), $82.5 million state, $11.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $325.7 million.
Spent $129.7 million — $102.7 million to run schools, about $14,138 per student, plus $17.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $84.1 million local (mostly property tax), $48.4 million state, $8.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $185.1 million.
Spent $98.9 million — $90.3 million to run schools, about $15,501 per student, plus $232,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $68.4 million local (mostly property tax), $47.3 million state, $8.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $141.5 million.
Spent $75.3 million — $70.7 million to run schools, about $12,889 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $52.7 million local (mostly property tax), $22.7 million state, $5.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $57.1 million.
Spent $79.8 million — $66.8 million to run schools, about $15,163 per student, plus $9.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $42.4 million local (mostly property tax), $36.8 million state, $5.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $51.2 million.
Spent $70.1 million — $57 million to run schools, about $13,742 per student, plus $6.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $33.8 million local (mostly property tax), $34.9 million state, $4.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $139.6 million.
Spent $70.7 million — $63.1 million to run schools, about $15,345 per student, plus $2.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $37.5 million local (mostly property tax), $34.9 million state, $5.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $80.8 million.
And 7 more.
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 Dane County about $182 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
593 bridges in Dane County: 278 in good condition, 273 fair, and 42 poor (7.1%). “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 M / CENTURY AV over PHEASANT BRANCH CREEK · built 1956 | 22,500 vehicles a day |
| LRD JOHN NOLEN DR over LAKE MONONA · built 1975 | 21,600 vehicles a day |
| LRD JOHN NOLEN DR over LAKE MONONA · built 1968 | 21,600 vehicles a day |
| LRD JOHN NOLEN DR over LAKE MONONA · built 1966 | 21,600 vehicles a day |
| LRD JOHN NOLEN DR over LAKE MONONA · built 1968 | 21,600 vehicles a day |
| IH 94 WB over STH 73 · built 1963 | 21,200 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $1.8 billion of work in Dane County in fiscal 2025, about $3,175 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 Dane 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 Dane County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Wisconsin: the state government and every county in Wisconsin.
Nearby counties: Columbia County (28 mi) · Green County (29 mi) · Rock County (32 mi) · Jefferson County (33 mi) · Sauk County (36 mi) · Iowa County (36 mi).