139,091 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.7% since 2020)
1,545 square miles of land · 90 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.
23 active community water systems list Marathon County in the area they serve, reporting 92,536 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WAUSAU WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI7370102 | 39,994 served |
| WESTON MUNICIPAL UTILITIES groundwater · local government · WI7370163 | 16,000 served |
| KRONENWETTER WATER & SEWER UTILITY groundwater · local government · WI7371700 | 6,931 served |
| RIB MOUNTAIN WATER UTILITY groundwater · local government · WI7370660 | 6,398 served |
| MOSINEE WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI7370159 | 3,406 served |
| ROTHSCHILD WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI7370161 | 3,190 served |
| ABBOTSFORD WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI7370148 | 2,502 served |
| SCHOFIELD WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI7370162 | 2,205 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 216 people were held in Marathon County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2025). In 2020 it was about 209.
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.
8 school districts have their office in Marathon County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $154.3 million — $121.7 million to run schools, about $15,404 per student, plus $20.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $53.4 million local (mostly property tax), $86.8 million state, $19 million federal. Long-term debt: $24.5 million.
Spent $99.1 million — $78 million to run schools, about $13,006 per student, plus $12 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $37.1 million local (mostly property tax), $60.3 million state, $7.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $80.5 million.
Spent $34.5 million — $26.7 million to run schools, about $13,445 per student, plus $4.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.3 million local (mostly property tax), $19.3 million state, $3 million federal. Long-term debt: $17.4 million.
Spent $13.2 million — $10.9 million to run schools, about $13,494 per student, plus $721,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.7 million local (mostly property tax), $9 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $13.3 million.
Spent $10.5 million — $9.4 million to run schools, about $12,535 per student, plus $94,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.6 million local (mostly property tax), $6.9 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.9 million.
Spent $10.8 million — $8.6 million to run schools, about $14,043 per student, plus $650,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.1 million local (mostly property tax), $7.4 million state, $1.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.6 million.
Spent $9.7 million — $8.1 million to run schools, about $13,334 per student, plus $538,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.6 million local (mostly property tax), $7 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.7 million.
Spent $9.8 million — $7.6 million to run schools, about $16,781 per student, plus $438,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $4.9 million state, $1.6 million 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: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Marathon County about $74.9 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.
531 bridges in Marathon County: 203 in good condition, 288 fair, and 40 poor (7.5%). “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.
| LRD STEWART AVE over WISCONSIN RIVER 31 · built 1915 | 28,144 vehicles a day |
| CTH U over LITTLE RIB RIVER · built 1957 | 1,985 vehicles a day |
| CTH N over BIG EAU PLEINE RIVER · built 1961 | 1,106 vehicles a day |
| CTH A over BIG RIB RIVER · built 1956 | 1,032 vehicles a day |
| CTH C over PLOVER RIVER · built 1954 | 811 vehicles a day |
| CTH H over BLACK CREEK · built 1969 | 807 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $41.4 million of work in Marathon County in fiscal 2025, about $300 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 Marathon 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 Marathon County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Wisconsin: the state government and every county in Wisconsin.
Nearby counties: Lincoln County (30 mi) · Portage County (32 mi) · Wood County (33 mi) · Langlade County (42 mi) · Taylor County (42 mi) · Clark County (43 mi).