Welcome to Wausau ...
The city of Wausau is located in Marathon County<1> and is the County Seat for Marathon County.
The pronunciation of Wausau: WA-SAW<2>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Wausau, you might consider that their post office opened in 1850.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Wausau has a population of 38,649 people<3> (see below for details).
Wausau is 1,300 feet [396 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Wausau lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Telephone area codes for Wausau: (715) and (534)<5>
Websites for Wausau ...
Official Website: www.ci.wausau.wi.us/
Chamber of Commerce: www.wausauchamber.com/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Wausau had an population of 38,649 people. This is a decrease of 1.17% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 0.58% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Wausau had a population of 39,106 people (or 29.17% of the total population of Marathon County). This makes Wausau the county's most populous community.
The population of Wausau represents 0.69% of the total population of Wisconsin (which has 5,686,986 people), making it the state's 17th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 39,106 people, the population of Wausau increased 1.77% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 38,426 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Wausau.
Communities Also Named Wausau ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Wausau - it's located in Florida.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wausau.
Communities near Wausau ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Wausau.
- Weston
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Merrill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north) - Kronenwetter
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kronenwetter
- Kronenwetter is located in Marathon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,143 people
- Mosinee
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Marathon City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marathon City have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marathon City
- Marathon City is located in Marathon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,516 people
- Edgar
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgar
- Edgar is located in Marathon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,434 people
- Hatley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatley
- Hatley is located in Marathon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 603 people
- Fenwood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west) - Brokaw
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Rothschild
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rothschild have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rothschild
- Rothschild is located in Marathon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,256 people
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Wausau. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Wausau.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Wausau. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wausau.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Wausau. Our list includes 25 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Wausau.
Adding Wausau to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Wausau in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Wausau was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Wausau post office opened in 1850.
We also found Wausau in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Wausau.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Wausau: www.ci.wausau.wi.us/
The official website for Marathon County: www.co.marathon.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Wisconsin's counties, including Marathon, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Wausau. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Wausau. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Wausau - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | Area code (534) is an overlay for area code (715). |
| <6> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |