Crawford County area

Crawford County, Wisconsin covers 599.2 square miles: 570.8 square miles of land and 28.4 square miles of water. Its county seat is Prairie du Chien. An estimated 15,910 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 550232026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area570.8 mi²
Water area28.4 mi²
Population (2025)15,910
People per mi²28

County outline

Generalized outline of Crawford County, Wisconsin
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Crawford County is located

Crawford County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 95.3% of Crawford County’s measured area and water for 4.7%. Its combined area converts to 1,551.9 square kilometers or approximately 383,494 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land570.8051,478.378365,315.2
Water28.40573.56918,179.2
Total599.211,551.947383,494.4

How Crawford County compares

By original Census land area, Crawford County ranks #52 of 72 in Wisconsin and #1766 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.758 times the Wisconsin county-equivalent median of 753 square miles. It accounts for 1.1% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete Wisconsin ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Crawford County

The Census Bureau estimates that 15,910 people lived in Crawford County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #2,107 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #64 of 72 in Wisconsin. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 16,110, the population has declined by 200 (−1.2%), compared with +1.3% for Wisconsin as a whole.

With 570.8 square miles of land, that is 28 people per square mile (11 per km²), placing Crawford County #2,068 nationally for density and #55 in Wisconsin. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Wisconsin median is 51. Put another way, there are about 23 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate16,08216,09816,03615,94815,91915,910
Change—+16−62−88−29−9

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Crawford County

Crawford County is divided into 22 cities and towns. In Wisconsin, county subdivisions are local governments, and together they cover all of the county’s land and residents.

The most populous is Prairie du Chien city, with 5,408 residents (34% of the county). The largest by land is Eastman town, at 71.3 mi², or 12.5% of the county’s land.

County subdivisionPopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²Share of county land
Prairie du Chien cityCounty seat5,408−2.3%5.9021%
Clayton town1,024−2.8%68.912.1%
Bridgeport town1,006+1.9%19.73.5%
Seneca town9230%58.310.2%
Prairie du Chien townCounty seat921−1.3%33.55.9%
Eastman town733−0.7%71.312.5%
Freeman town732+1.2%67.911.9%
Utica town628+0.5%54.19.5%
Wauzeka village618−1.7%4.7980.8%
Soldiers Grove village549−2.5%3.6460.6%
Scott town548+6.6%35.66.2%
Marietta town499−1.4%46.98.2%
Gays Mills village498−2.9%4.8660.9%
Wauzeka town370−1.3%42.27.4%
Eastman village333−4.6%3.580.6%
Show the other 7 subdivisions
NamePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Haney town307−1.9%32.7
Ferryville village191−1.5%2.127
Mount Sterling village182−3.2%1.429
Lynxville village134−2.9%1.39
Steuben village115−5.7%6.201
Bell Center village106−2.8%5.533
De Soto village85+3.7%0.23

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each subdivision inside Crawford County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Crawford County is not part of any metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area in the Office of Management and Budget’s July 2023 delineation; 1,306 other county equivalents are also outside one. These areas are built around an urban core of at least 10,000 people plus the counties tied to it by commuting, so counties outside them are generally rural.

ZIP codes

13 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Crawford County; 9 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

53518538055382153826546245462654628546315464554654546555465754665

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Crawford County

Crawford County shares a land border with 5 county equivalents, including 2 in Iowa. Each of them has more land than Crawford County. The largest neighbor is Grant County (1,147.6 mi²) and the smallest is Richland County (586.2 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Crawford County forms a block of 4,513.7 mi² of land, of which it holds 12.6%.

Map of Crawford County and the 5 county equivalents that border it Grant County, Wisconsin: 1,147.6 mi² landAllamakee County, Iowa: 639.1 mi² landVernon County, Wisconsin: 791.6 mi² landRichland County, Wisconsin: 586.2 mi² landClayton County, Iowa: 778.5 mi² land
Crawford County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. CrawfordCompare
Grant County1,147.62× largerCompare
Vernon County791.61.4× largerCompare
Clayton CountyIowa778.51.4× largerCompare
Allamakee CountyIowa639.11.1× largerCompare
Richland County586.2about the sameCompare

How big is Crawford County compared with U.S. states?

Crawford County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.8 times as much. Wisconsin’s county land could hold about 95 areas the size of Crawford County.

Land area: Crawford County and the closest-sized states
Crawford County570.8 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 23.9 miles (38.4 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Crawford County?

Crawford County has more land than 1,456 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Crawford County570.8 mi²
Wisconsin median753 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Crawford County at #1,747 nationally by total area, 19 places closer to the top than its land rank. The water assigned to this geography moves it ahead of some county equivalents with more land.

Its water share is 4.7%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 3.6 percentage points higher. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Crawford County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#1765Mahaska County, Iowa570.9Compare
#1766Crawford County, Wisconsin570.8This county
#1767McClain County, Oklahoma570.7Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 43.242768, -90.935185. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 1,478,377,403 m²; AWATER: 73,569,364 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Crawford County?

Crawford County, Wisconsin has 570.8 square miles (1,478.4 km²) of land and 28.4 square miles of water, for a total area of 599.2 square miles. It ranks #1766 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Crawford County the largest county in Wisconsin?

No. Crawford County ranks #52 of 72 in Wisconsin by land area. The largest is Marathon County, with 1,545.2 square miles of land.

What counties border Crawford County?

Crawford County shares a land border with Grant County, Allamakee County, Iowa, Vernon County, Richland County, and Clayton County, Iowa.

What is the population of Crawford County?

The Census Bureau estimates Crawford County had 15,910 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #2,107 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 28 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Crawford County?

The county seat of Crawford County is Prairie du Chien.

What cities and towns are in Crawford County?

Crawford County has 22 county subdivisions (cities, towns and townships). The most populous five are Prairie du Chien city, Clayton town, Bridgeport town, Seneca town, and Prairie du Chien town.

Is Crawford County part of a metropolitan area?

No. Crawford County is outside every metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area in the July 2023 OMB delineation.

How many ZIP codes are in Crawford County?

13 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Crawford County, and 9 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Crawford County compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.8 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Crawford County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 365,315 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 383,494 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

Download the complete CSV or JSON dataset