14,168 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.1% since 2020)
914 square miles of land · 16 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.
8 active community water systems list Rusk County in the area they serve, reporting 4,872 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LADYSMITH WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI8550131 | 3,184 served |
| BRUCE WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI8550127 | 620 served |
| HAWKINS WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI8550129 | 333 served |
| SHELDON WATER UTILITY groundwater · local government · WI8550278 | 265 served |
| WEYERHAEUSER WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI8550132 | 238 served |
| TONY WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI8550459 | 105 served |
| GLEN FLORA WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · WI8550454 | 93 served |
| WILLOW LANE ESTATES groundwater · private · WI8550135 | 34 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 25 people were held in Rusk County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2025). In 2020 it was about 27.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Rusk County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $20.3 million — $11.7 million to run schools, about $15,689 per student, plus $6.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.2 million local (mostly property tax), $9.4 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $25.8 million.
Spent $10.6 million — $8.7 million to run schools, about $18,967 per student, plus $353,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $6 million state, $2.2 million federal.
Spent $9.5 million — $7.8 million to run schools, about $18,951 per student, plus $53,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.9 million local (mostly property tax), $4.7 million state, $1.7 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Rusk County about $10.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
150 bridges in Rusk County: 50 in good condition, 86 fair, and 14 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.
| USH 8 over LITTLE SOFT MAPLE CREEK · built 1938 | 3,400 vehicles a day |
| STH 27 over DEER TAIL CREEK · built 1987 | 2,300 vehicles a day |
| CTH A over THORNAPPLE RIVER · built 1967 | 787 vehicles a day |
| CTH P over DEER TAIL CREEK · built 1962 | 529 vehicles a day |
| STH 73 over CRAZY HORSE CREEK · built 1989 | 460 vehicles a day |
| CTH D over RICE CREEK · built 1969 | 334 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $6.4 million of work in Rusk County in fiscal 2025, about $448 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 Rusk 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 Rusk County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Wisconsin: the state government and every county in Wisconsin.
Nearby counties: Sawyer County (27 mi) · Chippewa County (29 mi) · Barron County (35 mi) · Taylor County (35 mi) · Price County (40 mi) · Washburn County (43 mi).