Along with Brown County, Crawford County is one of Wisconsin's original counties, established by the Michigan Territorial legislature in 1818, and named after William H. Crawford, James Monroe's Treasurer at the time. It originally covered the western half of Wisconsin's present area. In 1836, it was transferred to the newly formed Wisconsin Territory as Michigan prepared for statehood and has gradually been subdivided into its present area.
The Wisconsin River borders the county's southern edge. Although it is the state's busiest river, its run within the county is tranquil, with high bluff escarpments and sandy islands.
The Mississippi River, serves as the county's western border. The steep limestone cliffs are interspersed with bluffs and prairies.
As of the census of 2010, there were 16,644 people, 6,677 households, and 4,613 families residing in the county. The population density was 12/km². There were 8,480 housing units at an average density of 6/km². The racial makeup of the county was 96.61% White, 1.78% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. 0.9% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 33.6% were of German, 16.0% Norwegian, 11.4% Irish, 7.2% Czech, 7.2% English and 6.4% United States or American ancestry. There were 6,677 households out of which 31.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.70% were married couplesliving together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.90% were non-families. 26.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.00. In the county, the population was spread out with 24.25% under the age of 20, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 20 to 44, 31.16% from 45 to 64, and 18.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 102.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.30 males.
