Buying Land in Taylor County, Wisconsin

Zoning: no county-wide general zoning -- check the specific town

The Taylor County Zoning Office (224 South Second Street, Medford, WI 54451; (715) 748-1485) administers a specific list of ordinances: Sanitary Code, Subdivision Control, Shoreland Zoning, Non-Metallic Mining Reclamation, Non-Ferrous Metallic Mineral Mining, Floodplain Zoning, the Uniform County Address System, Airport Zoning, Telecommunications Facilities, the Comprehensive Plan, and Contaminated Soils. Notably absent from that list is a general, comprehensive land-use zoning ordinance -- Taylor County simply does not have one, a genuinely different structure from most other Wisconsin counties.

Under Wisconsin's rule that a town may adopt its own general zoning ordinance where its county has none, a handful of Taylor County towns have done exactly that: the Towns of Grover, Cleveland, and Little Black each maintain their own published town zoning code. This research pass found no equivalent record for any of the county's other towns (22 in total), which does not necessarily mean none exist -- confirm a specific town's status directly with the county Zoning Office before assuming either way. For any town without its own zoning ordinance, there is effectively no general-use zoning district or permitted-use framework governing land away from water, floodplain, or an airport -- worth knowing whether you see that as a due-diligence gap or as more flexibility for how you can use a parcel.

Wisconsin's oldest Amish settlement

The Medford Old Order Amish Settlement, founded in 1920 by families who came from Kansas, is documented by both the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) and Amish America as the oldest Amish settlement still in existence anywhere in Wisconsin -- more than a century old. Despite that long history, it remains a comparatively small community: a 2024-sourced count puts it at roughly 350 people across 3 church districts, down from an earlier description of about 600 people across 4 districts. Reporting describes the settlement as having grown little, if at all, in the past 15-plus years, with its population sustained mainly by families relocating in from other, smaller Wisconsin Amish settlements that appear to be phasing out, rather than by natural growth.

See our dedicated homesteading page for the practical land-buying angle here -- including how the settlement's presence interacts with Taylor County's unusual no-general-zoning backdrop described above, and the same statewide religious building-code waiver (Wis. Stat. sec. 101.648) relevant to any Amish-built or Amish-occupied structure anywhere in Wisconsin.

Forestry and dairy: the county's economic backbone

Taylor County's economy leans heavily on forestry, agriculture, and manufacturing. Forestry ranks among the county's top-10 industries by output, and Taylor County Forest timber is dual-certified under both the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) standards. Agriculture remains a real economic pillar too -- a UW-Extension economic profile puts the sector at roughly 3,455 jobs and $20.7 million in direct economic activity, with 97% family-owned farms working an estimated 225,856 acres (about 36% of the county's total land area) and milk as the top agricultural product by value.

As logging waned historically, dairy farming became the county's economic backbone, and cheese factories and creameries remain common across its small communities. If you're evaluating agricultural or forested land here, expect an active, long-established local market for both uses, alongside the Amish-affiliated farms and trades concentrated near the Medford settlement.

GIS, records, and other departments to know

Taylor County's Land Information Department handles parcel mapping and GIS data; the Register of Deeds (Courthouse, 224 South 2nd St, Medford, WI 54451; (715) 748-1483) holds recorded deeds, easements, and plats; and the Treasurer ((715) 748-1466) handles property tax payment. UW-Madison Division of Extension's Taylor County office (925 Donald Street, Room 103, Medford, WI 54451; (715) 748-3327) supports the county's agriculture and forestry sectors.