17,306 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.2% since 2020)
634 square miles of land · 27 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.
9 active community water systems list Lafayette County in the area they serve, reporting 7,855 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| DARLINGTON WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1330073 | 2,235 served |
| SHULLSBURG WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1330076 | 1,222 served |
| BELMONT WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1330069 | 989 served |
| BENTON WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1330070 | 976 served |
| ARGYLE WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1330068 | 823 served |
| BLANCHARDVILLE WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1330071 | 810 served |
| SOUTH WAYNE WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1330077 | 478 served |
| GRATIOT WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI1330074 | 224 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 20 people were held in Lafayette County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2025). In 2020 it was about 15.
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 Lafayette County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $17.4 million — $12.6 million to run schools, about $13,976 per student, plus $3.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $9.5 million state, $3.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.4 million.
Spent $6.6 million — $5.8 million to run schools, about $14,321 per student, plus $199,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $3.8 million state, $745,000 federal. Long-term debt: $8.3 million.
Spent $8.2 million — $7.2 million to run schools, about $18,373 per student, plus $409,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3 million local (mostly property tax), $4.5 million state, $913,000 federal. Long-term debt: $126,000.
Spent $7.4 million — $5.8 million to run schools, about $16,262 per student, plus $521,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $4.1 million state, $992,000 federal. Long-term debt: $216,000.
Spent $6.1 million — $5.2 million to run schools, about $16,375 per student, plus $276,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.5 million local (mostly property tax), $3.6 million state, $823,000 federal.
Spent $5.5 million — $4.8 million to run schools, about $16,334 per student, plus $75,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $3 million state, $652,000 federal. Long-term debt: $6.7 million.
Spent $4.7 million — $3.7 million to run schools, about $16,629 per student, plus $318,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $2.9 million state, $511,000 federal. Long-term debt: $97,000.
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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Lafayette County about $12 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
217 bridges in Lafayette County: 102 in good condition, 94 fair, and 21 poor (9.7%). “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 11 over BR SHULLSBURG BRANCH · built 1947 | 2,200 vehicles a day |
| CTH F over STEINER BRANCH · built 1936 | 505 vehicles a day |
| CTH F over YELLOWSTONE RIVER · built 1936 | 505 vehicles a day |
| CTH M over BR E BR PECATONICA RIVER · built 1948 | 380 vehicles a day |
| CTH I over ELLIS BRANCH · built 1930 | 293 vehicles a day |
| CTH E over AMES BRANCH · built 1966 | 282 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $7.5 million of work in Lafayette County in fiscal 2025, about $454 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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Wisconsin: the state government and every county in Wisconsin.
Nearby counties: Jo Daviess County, IL (21 mi) · Iowa County (24 mi) · Green County (27 mi) · Stephenson County, IL (32 mi) · Grant County (32 mi) · Dubuque County, IA (40 mi).