City · Door County, Wisconsin

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

Sturgeon Bay is a city in Door County, Wisconsin. It has 9,806 residents. Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin has a quality-of-life score of 94 out of 100 (very high), ranking #971 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wisconsin it ranks #99 of 396 cities and towns. It ranks best on restaurants and bars (high), natural hazard risk (low) and hot days (low). It ranks worst on distance to an Amtrak station (high), average weekly wage (low) and flu vaccinations (low).

94Very high

Quality-of-life score: #971 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wisconsin: #99 of 396 in WI
Population: 9,806 (2020-2024)
Land area: 10 mi²
Density: 991.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 5577875

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety85#2,301/15,637
Economy47#8,308/15,631
Housing75#3,771/14,977
Health74#4,034/15,609
Healthcare76#3,724/15,650
Environment94#951/15,453
Education87#2,036/15,649
Infrastructure59#6,375/15,650
Community100#51/15,651
Leisure & amenities96#669/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Door County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Restaurants and bars · high35.6 /10k
100/100Wisconsin 12.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDoor County value
Natural hazard risk · low1.1
99/100Wisconsin 10.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyDoor County value
Hot days · low0 days
99/100Wisconsin 4 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationDoor County value
Average commute time · low13.3 min
99/100Wisconsin 22.2 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Voter turnout · high83.4%
99/100Wisconsin 76.3%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionDoor County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high14.7 /10k
98/100Wisconsin 4.8 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDoor County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an Amtrak station · high133 mi
6/100Wisconsin 40 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDoor County value
Average weekly wage · low$924
8/100Wisconsin $1,272United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDoor County value
Flu vaccinations · low30.0%
8/100Wisconsin 50.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDoor County value
High ozone days · high9 days
8/100Wisconsin 4 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDoor County value
Distance to an emergency room · high10.2 mi
16/100Wisconsin 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDoor County value
Comfortable days · low23.6%
16/100Wisconsin 24.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationDoor County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
8,885 (2015-2019) → 9,806 (2020-2024)
+10%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
15.6 /1k (2022) → 2.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−86%4 yearsUS 5.0 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.5× (2015-2019) → 3.9× (2020-2024)
+55%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
77.8% (2015-2019) → 87.6% (2020-2024)
+9.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
High school diploma or higherImproving
91.8% (2015-2019) → 95.6% (2020-2024)
+3.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
27.7% (2015-2019) → 25.0% (2020-2024)
−2.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+9.7 points77.8% → 87.6%

Declined1

Price / income+1.4×2.5× → 3.9×

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.7 min2015-2019	13.3 min2020-2024	−1.5 min	Within the margin of error	65%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.7%2015-2019	25.0%2020-2024	−2.6 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Broadband subscriptions	77.8%2015-2019	87.6%2020-2024	+9.7 points	Improved	58%
Effective property tax rate	1.62%2015-2019	1.43%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	56%
High school diploma or higher	91.8%2015-2019	95.6%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Home price to income ratio	2.5×2015-2019	3.9×2020-2024	+1.4×	Declined	11%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4392015-2019	0.4432020-2024	+0.003	Within the margin of error	47%
Median household income	$57,6732015-2019	$59,9262020-2024	+3.9%	Within the margin of error	10%
Poverty rate	9.1%2015-2019	9.2%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Rent as share of income	27.2%2015-2019	26.2%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Rent-burdened households	44.4%2015-2019	44.9%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.3%2015-2019	3.8%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	52%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin itself moved −4.2 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

9,806 residents (±87)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

5,160 households (±305)

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Under $25k18%†914
$25k–50k21%1,081
$50k–75k22%1,159

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

5,160 households (±305)

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Own60%3,118
Rent40%2,042

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

5,119 workers (±338)

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Drive alone77%3,918
Carpool6.2%†315
Public transit0.4%†20

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Door County, the county holding most of Sturgeon Bay's residents.

Door County has 1,292 employer establishments, 422 for every 10,000 residents (1.70× the US rate of 248; 1.73× Wisconsin's), with 10,683 paid employees at an average annual pay of $48,866. The Census Bureau also counts 3,258 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,292; 3,258 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 422; US 248 · Wisconsin 244
Paid employees: 10,683
Average annual pay: $48,866; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Door County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	137	44.8	2.44×More than typical	1,262	$41,307	12
Traveler accommodation	87	28.4	15.8×More than typical	670	$40,479	97
Full-service restaurants	85	27.8	3.62×More than typical	829	$49,165	8
Specialty trade contractors	73	23.9	1.54×More than typical	455	$63,233	301
Services to buildings and dwellings	63	20.6	3.06×More than typical	194	$58,593	286
Landscaping services	45	14.7	4.20×More than typical	137	$70,197	105
Lessors of real estate	44	14.4	1.17×About typical	167	$38,886	399
Ambulatory health care services	40	13.1	0.63×Fewer than typical	204	$60,034	107
Clothing and accessories stores	38	12.4	3.43×More than typical	130	$35,492	41
Construction of buildings	36	11.8	1.56×More than typical	189	$64,397	143
Religious organizations	35	11.4	2.06×More than typical	161	$25,236	—
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	33	10.8	4.06×More than typical	292	$38,818	28

Rank places for an industry Open Door County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 30,581 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $398.4K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin: $40.63 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $398.4K; −40% vs FY2025
Per resident: $40.63; US $1,995
Sole-source: 8.1%; US 30%
Single offer: 24%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

U.S. Coast Guard$295K74%
Department of the Navy$70.9K18%
Environmental Protection Agency$18.4K4.6%
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service$14.1K3.5%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

69.2KFY2017
102KFY2018
627.5KFY2019
251.4KFY2020
114.9KFY2021
125.5KFY2022
238.2KFY2023
779.5K

Top industries (NAICS)

Other general purpose machinery manufacturing · 3339$201.1K50%
Ship and boat building · 3366$173.5K44%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$18.4K4.6%
Special food services · 7223$9,2052.3%
Building finishing contractors · 2383$3370.1%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 7, 2026, loaded Oct 7, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, so they do not add up across cities.

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin's figures are part of those of Door County, WI ($7.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 5.2% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Sturgeon Bay is mostly in Door County.

See federal money in Door County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Tony WiedR-WI-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.2%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Door County99100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Door County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/5577875

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends