Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA, Census Bureau · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Who heats with electricity where it is cold in Wisconsin?

423,487homes in Wisconsin heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

All 72 Wisconsin counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 17% of the 2,446,028 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. Rank 17 of 35 by count, 23 by share. Milwaukee County holds the most: 70,810 electric-heated homes at 6,892 heating degree days.

Where Wisconsin sits among the states

Share of homes that heat with electricity in cold counties, by state, one tile per stateAlaska: no data in this seriesAKMaine: 10.1% of homesMEVermont: 8.1% of homesVTNew Hampshire: 10.7% of homesNHWashington: 57.7% of homesWAIdaho: 35.0% of homesIDMontana: 26.6% of homesMTNorth Dakota: 39.9% of homesNDMinnesota: 18.8% of homesMNIllinois: 18.2% of homesILWisconsin: 17.3% of homesWIMichigan: 11.6% of homesMINew York: 14.4% of homesNYRhode Island: 12.1% of homesRIMassachusetts: 17.9% of homesMAOregon: 53.1% of homesORNevada: 8.7% of homesNVWyoming: 23.3% of homesWYSouth Dakota: 32.6% of homesSDIowa: 24.3% of homesIAIndiana: 30.7% of homesINOhio: 25.6% of homesOHPennsylvania: 24.8% of homesPANew Jersey: 15.6% of homesNJConnecticut: no data in this seriesCTCalifornia: 2.0% of homesCAUtah: 16.4% of homesUTColorado: 25.2% of homesCONebraska: 31.2% of homesNEMissouri: 37.0% of homesMOKentucky: 49.5% of homesKYWest Virginia: 45.5% of homesWVVirginia: 32.2% of homesVAMaryland: 42.6% of homesMDDelaware: 37.0% of homesDEArizona: 0.9% of homesAZNew Mexico: 13.1% of homesNMKansas: 26.5% of homesKSArkansas: 1.9% of homesARTennessee: 9.9% of homesTNNorth Carolina: 5.6% of homesNCSouth Carolina: 0.0% of homesSCDistrict of Columbia: no data in this seriesDCOklahoma: 0.5% of homesOKLouisiana: 0.0% of homesLAMississippi: 0.0% of homesMSAlabama: 0.0% of homesALGeorgia: 0.4% of homesGAHawaii: no data in this seriesHITexas: 0.1% of homesTXFlorida: 0.0% of homesFL

Darker is a larger share. Wisconsin is outlined.

Wisconsin: cold counties and electric heat

Wisconsin cold counties, electric heating
Milwaukee County389,04618.270,8106,892-6%16.7
Dane County245,73624.259,4847,195-5%14.0
Waukesha County166,79018.530,7767,128-5%7.3
Brown County110,24819.721,7137,706-6%5.1
Winnebago County71,95820.014,3587,546-5%3.4
La Crosse County50,54328.114,2177,549-4%3.4
Racine County79,10916.112,7606,865-5%3.0
Outagamie County77,23916.012,3337,706-6%2.9
Rock County66,65218.312,1776,923-5%2.9
Kenosha County67,63117.211,6286,750-5%2.7
Eau Claire County43,26126.211,3368,068-4%2.7
Washington County56,48218.810,6117,467-4%2.5
Marathon County56,87316.19,1768,447-5%2.2
Ozaukee County37,76617.96,7477,218-5%1.6
Dodge County35,72318.36,5527,425-4%1.5
Sheboygan County49,42613.06,4087,489-5%1.5
Fond du Lac County43,01614.76,3037,588-5%1.5
Walworth County42,42514.86,2596,986-4%1.5
St. Croix County36,72916.66,1108,118-3%1.4
Jefferson County34,45516.65,7247,077-5%1.4

Largest 20 of 72 cold counties, ranked by electric-heated homes. The 52 smaller cold counties are in the CSV. All counties, CSV.

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Milwaukee County, Dane County, Waukesha County, hold 38% of the 423,487 electric-heated homes in Wisconsin cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is La Crosse County at 28%. The coldest, Vilas County, averages 9,376 heating degree days; Wisconsin as a whole averages 7,487 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, Wisconsin cold counties, 12 largest

  • Milwaukee County70,810
  • Dane County59,484
  • Waukesha County30,776
  • Brown County21,713
  • Winnebago County14,358
  • La Crosse County14,217
  • Racine County12,760
  • Outagamie County12,333
  • Rock County12,177
  • Kenosha County11,628
  • Eau Claire County11,336
  • Washington County10,611

Wisconsin: the 10 coldest counties

Vilas County is coldest at 9,376 heating degree days with 9% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 9,042 electric-heated homes.

Wisconsin 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Vilas County10,8739.09,3769,247
Iron County2,9499.09,3379,184
Forest County3,9528.29,1618,951
Oneida County16,7728.69,1248,985
Ashland County6,8479.49,1058,895
Price County6,5679.69,0878,864
Florence County2,1102.79,0658,745
Sawyer County8,5228.69,0578,752
Bayfield County7,46210.69,0488,746
Douglas County18,94716.79,0228,750

Wisconsin: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, La Crosse County is highest at 28% and Rock County is 10th at 18%.

Wisconsin 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
La Crosse County50,54328.17,5497,249
Eau Claire County43,26126.28,0687,716
Dane County245,73624.27,1956,807
Dunn County17,36921.98,1057,800
Winnebago County71,95820.07,5467,136
Brown County110,24819.77,7067,269
Washington County56,48218.87,4677,177
Waukesha County166,79018.57,1286,788
Dodge County35,72318.37,4257,127
Rock County66,65218.36,9236,611

Winter disconnections and price in Wisconsin

Wisconsin utilities logged 0.00 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.65 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 18.16 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 182 dollars in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin in the ranking

Michigan is 15th with 467,609 homes (11.6% of its homes). Minnesota is 16th with 430,264 homes (18.8% of its homes). West Virginia is 18th with 328,483 homes (45.5% of its homes). Iowa is 19th with 316,696 homes (24.3% of its homes).

Wisconsin beside 4 neighbors

Wisconsin neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
Illinois910,21418.2%6,044
Iowa316,69624.3%6,736
Michigan467,60911.6%6,722
Minnesota430,26418.8%8,162

Look up your Wisconsin county

  • Pick your Wisconsin county.

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Sources

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Questions

How many Wisconsin homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

423,487 homes, 17.3% of 2,446,028 occupied Wisconsin homes, in 72 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

Which Wisconsin county has the most electric-heated homes among its cold counties?

Milwaukee County, with 70,810 of its 389,046 homes (18%) at 6,892 normal heating degree days.

Which Wisconsin county is the coldest, and how many of its homes heat with electricity?

Vilas County, at 9,376 normal heating degree days: 975 of 10,873 homes (9%).

How far did the last decade run from the Wisconsin normal?

Wisconsin cold counties averaged 4.1% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

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423,487 homes in Wisconsin heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

Cite this page

Underlying data are U.S. government works (EIA, Census Bureau). Our tables and charts: CC BY 4.0, credit Electric Consumer. The access date fills in when you open this page.

APA

Electric Consumer. (2026). Wisconsin winter exposure: 423,487 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/wisconsin.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “Wisconsin winter exposure: 423,487 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/wisconsin.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “Wisconsin winter exposure: 423,487 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/wisconsin.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_wisconsin,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {Wisconsin winter exposure: 423,487 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/wisconsin.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
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