Wisconsin county government dates back to 1818, three decades before statehood.  At the time, three counties—Crawford, Brown, and Michilimackinac—covered the entire territory.  Today, Wisconsin has 72 counties, with populations ranging from over 930,000 people in Milwaukee County to fewer than 5,000 in Menominee.

Since 2003 (time of the last WISTAX survey), a lot has changed in county administration and finance.  Fifteen counties have changed administration type and nine have altered county board size.  With levy limits beginning in 2006, growth in both tax and total revenues has slowed from the early 2000s.  County administration information was collected from surveys sent to each of the state's 72 county clerks...