County outline
Where Dane County is located
Area breakdown
Land accounts for 96.7% of Dane County’s measured area and water for 3.3%. Its combined area converts to 3,205.1 square kilometers or approximately 792,001 acres.
Green: land · blue: water
| Measurement | Square miles | Square kilometers | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land | 1,196.496 | 3,098.91 | 765,757.4 |
| Water | 41.006 | 106.205 | 26,243.8 |
| Total | 1,237.502 | 3,205.115 | 792,001.3 |
How Dane County compares
By original Census land area, Dane County ranks #8 of 72 in Wisconsin and #512 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Its land area is 1.589 times the Wisconsin county-equivalent median of 753 square miles. It accounts for 2.2% of the combined county land area in the state.
See the complete Wisconsin ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?
Population and density of Dane County
The Census Bureau estimates that 590,375 people lived in Dane County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #120 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #2 of 72 in Wisconsin. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 561,507, the population has grown by 28,868 (+5.1%), compared with +1.3% for Wisconsin as a whole.
With 1,196.5 square miles of land, that is 493 people per square mile (191 per km²), placing Dane County #341 nationally for density and #6 in Wisconsin. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Wisconsin median is 51. Put another way, there are about 1.3 acres of land per resident.
| July 1 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 562,615 | 561,805 | 570,754 | 579,299 | 586,325 | 590,375 |
| Change | — | −810 | +8,949 | +8,545 | +7,026 | +4,050 |
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 Dane County
Dane County is divided into 60 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 Madison city, with 286,233 residents (48.5% of the county), and it is also the largest by land at 84.3 mi². Among those with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Cottage Grove village grew fastest since then (+22.4%).
| County subdivision | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² | Share of county land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison cityCounty seat | 286,233 | +4.2% | 84.3 | 7% |
| Sun Prairie city | 39,227 | +9% | 13.3 | 1.1% |
| Fitchburg city | 34,615 | +11.7% | 35.2 | 2.9% |
| Middleton city | 23,115 | +5.7% | 9.517 | 0.8% |
| Verona city | 16,821 | +20.8% | 8.555 | 0.7% |
| Waunakee village | 16,411 | +10.1% | 7.585 | 0.6% |
| Stoughton city | 13,256 | +0.6% | 6.167 | 0.5% |
| DeForest village | 13,094 | +21.1% | 9.546 | 0.8% |
| Oregon village | 12,015 | +7.4% | 4.563 | 0.4% |
| Windsor village | 10,085 | +15.2% | 27.5 | 2.3% |
| McFarland village | 9,145 | +1.8% | 4.854 | 0.4% |
| Cottage Grove village | 8,930 | +22.4% | 4.739 | 0.4% |
| Monona city | 8,664 | +0.5% | 3.257 | 0.3% |
| Mount Horeb village | 7,725 | −0.4% | 3.27 | 0.3% |
| Middleton town | 6,833 | +0.9% | 13.9 | 1.2% |
Show the other 45 subdivisions
| Name | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunn town | 4,676 | −4.4% | 27.5 |
| Bristol town | 4,347 | −2.5% | 33.1 |
| Westport town | 4,249 | +1.6% | 19.6 |
| Cross Plains village | 4,182 | +1.8% | 2.628 |
| Marshall village | 3,696 | −2.5% | 2.143 |
| Cottage Grove town | 3,677 | −2.9% | 30.9 |
| Burke town | 3,089 | −4.4% | 13.8 |
| Oregon town | 2,994 | −3.8% | 30.7 |
| Pleasant Springs town | 2,968 | −3.7% | 32.5 |
| Springfield town | 2,800 | −4% | 35.4 |
| Deerfield village | 2,619 | +4.3% | 2.225 |
| Sun Prairie town | 2,291 | −4.1% | 29.6 |
| Shorewood Hills village | 2,155 | −5.3% | 0.803 |
| Belleville village | 2,112 | +10.6% | 1.44 |
| Verona town | 2,092 | +2.3% | 22.1 |
| Springdale town | 2,021 | −1.8% | 35.3 |
| Albion town | 2,007 | −3.3% | 34.9 |
| Rutland town | 1,910 | −3.3% | 34.4 |
| Dunkirk town | 1,798 | −4.2% | 30.9 |
| Roxbury town | 1,796 | −3.7% | 34.3 |
| Mazomanie village | 1,746 | −1.4% | 1.769 |
| Deerfield town | 1,613 | −4% | 33.4 |
| Vienna town | 1,597 | −3.9% | 34.4 |
| Cambridge village | 1,571 | +1.9% | 1.311 |
| Black Earth village | 1,523 | +1.9% | 0.844 |
| Blooming Grove town | 1,488 | −5% | 2.298 |
| Cross Plains town | 1,453 | −2.8% | 34 |
| Maple Bluff village | 1,305 | −4.7% | 0.701 |
| Medina town | 1,300 | −3.2% | 33 |
| Christiana town | 1,186 | −3.9% | 34.6 |
| Berry town | 1,138 | −2.5% | 35.6 |
| Dane village | 1,119 | +0.1% | 1.184 |
| Mazomanie town | 1,058 | −1.7% | 29.1 |
| Brooklyn village | 1,047 | +1.7% | 0.639 |
| Montrose town | 1,024 | −4.1% | 33.8 |
| Dane town | 926 | −1% | 34.8 |
| Blue Mounds town | 899 | −2% | 32.4 |
| Blue Mounds village | 892 | −4.5% | 0.881 |
| Vermont town | 885 | +1.3% | 35.9 |
| Perry town | 725 | −2.2% | 36.1 |
| Primrose town | 719 | −2.7% | 35.8 |
| York town | 667 | −4.2% | 35.8 |
| Black Earth town | 500 | −1.6% | 17.1 |
| Rockdale village | 201 | −4.3% | 0.281 |
| Edgerton city | 145 | −1.4% | 0.534 |
Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each subdivision inside Dane County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer. How communities are listed.
Metropolitan area
Dane County is a central county of the Madison, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its 4 county equivalents have 709,685 residents on 3,308.8 square miles of land; Dane County accounts for 36.2% of the land and 83.2% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #90 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #87 by population. It belongs to the Madison-Janesville-Beloit, WI Combined Statistical Area.
| County equivalent | Population 2025 | Land mi² |
|---|---|---|
| Dane County | 590,375 | 1,196.5 |
| Columbia County | 58,132 | 765.6 |
| Green County | 37,227 | 584 |
| Iowa County | 23,951 | 762.7 |
ZIP codes
46 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Dane County; 35 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.
53507535085351553516535175352153523535275352853529535315353253534535445355553558535595356053562535715357253574535755358353589535905359353594535975359853703537045370553706537115371353714537155371653717537185371953726537925391153925
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 Dane County
Dane County shares a land border with 7 county equivalents. It has more land than every one of them. The largest neighbor is Dodge County (875.7 mi²) and the smallest is Jefferson County (556.5 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Dane County forms a block of 6,290.8 mi² of land, of which it holds 19%.
| Bordering county equivalent | Land mi² | Size vs. Dane | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dodge County | 875.7 | 1.4× smaller | Compare |
| Sauk County | 831.6 | 1.4× smaller | Compare |
| Columbia County | 765.6 | 1.6× smaller | Compare |
| Iowa County | 762.7 | 1.6× smaller | Compare |
| Rock County | 718.2 | 1.7× smaller | Compare |
| Green County | 584 | 2× smaller | Compare |
| Jefferson County | 556.5 | 2.2× smaller | Compare |
How big is Dane County compared with U.S. states?
Dane County has more land than 1 of the 50 states. It is about 1.2 times the land area of Rhode Island (1,033.9 mi²), while Delaware, the next larger state, has 1.6 times as much land (1,948.6 mi²). Wisconsin’s county land could hold about 45 areas the size of Dane County.
Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 34.6 miles (55.7 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 Dane County?
Dane County has more land than 2,710 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.
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 Dane County at #568 nationally by total area, 56 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.
Its water share is 3.3%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 2.1 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 Dane County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.
| Land rank | County equivalent | Land mi² | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| #511 | Oneida County, Idaho | 1,199 | Compare |
| #512 | Dane County, Wisconsin | 1,196.5 | This county |
| #513 | Cheyenne County, Nebraska | 1,196 | Compare |
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 43.067468, -89.417852. 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: 3,098,910,434 m²; AWATER: 106,205,819 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.
Common questions
How big is Dane County?
Dane County, Wisconsin has 1,196.5 square miles (3,098.9 km²) of land and 41 square miles of water, for a total area of 1,237.5 square miles. It ranks #512 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.
Is Dane County the largest county in Wisconsin?
No. Dane County ranks #8 of 72 in Wisconsin by land area. The largest is Marathon County, with 1,545.2 square miles of land.
What counties border Dane County?
Dane County shares a land border with Columbia County, Iowa County, Jefferson County, Green County, Rock County, Sauk County, and Dodge County.
What is the population of Dane County?
The Census Bureau estimates Dane County had 590,375 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #120 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 493 people per square mile of land.
What is the county seat of Dane County?
The county seat of Dane County is Madison.
What cities and towns are in Dane County?
Dane County has 60 county subdivisions (cities, towns and townships). The most populous five are Madison city, Sun Prairie city, Fitchburg city, Middleton city, and Verona city.
Is Dane County part of a metropolitan area?
Yes. It is a central county of the Madison, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 4 county equivalents and 709,685 residents.
How many ZIP codes are in Dane County?
46 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Dane County, and 35 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.
How does Dane County compare with U.S. states?
It has more land than 1 of the 50 states, including Rhode Island (1,033.9 square miles of land).
How many acres of land are in Dane County?
The land measurement converts to approximately 765,757 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 792,001 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.