Best Counties for Land Flipping in Wisconsin (2025)
The best counties for land flipping in Wisconsin are Vilas County, Walworth County and Adams County. We ranked 52 Wisconsin counties on how much vacant land they have and how many owners live away from their property, using Wisconsin Statewide Parcel Map parcel records (V12 (2025 tax roll)).
The top 5 and why
1. Vilas County
Score 91/100
13,849 vacant parcels, 22% of owners live out of state and 48% of owners are absentee. The typical vacant parcel is 1.8 acres.
2. Walworth County
Score 86/100
23% of owners live out of state and 44% of owners are absentee. The typical vacant parcel is 0.4 acres.
3. Adams County
Score 84/100
20% of owners live out of state and 42% of owners are absentee. The typical vacant parcel is 3.5 acres.
4. Oneida County
Score 83/100
14,466 vacant parcels, 17% of owners live out of state and 36% of owners are absentee. The typical vacant parcel is 3 acres.
5. Sawyer County
Score 77/100
27% of owners live out of state. The typical vacant parcel is 5.8 acres.
Wisconsin county ranking
The top 25 of 52 ranked counties. Every county's numbers are on the Wisconsin land statistics page, with a CSV download. To compare Wisconsin with other states, see the national ranking.
| # | County | Score | Vacant parcels | Out-of-state | Absentee | Median vacant acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vilas County | 91 | 13,849 | 22% | 48% | 1.8 |
| 2 | Walworth County | 86 | 12,729 | 23% | 44% | 0.4 |
| 3 | Adams County | 84 | 12,911 | 20% | 42% | 3.5 |
| 4 | Oneida County | 83 | 14,466 | 17% | 36% | 3 |
| 5 | Sawyer County | 77 | 12,691 | 27% | 30% | 5.8 |
| 6 | Bayfield County | 76 | 12,894 | 21% | 29% | 12.5 |
| 7 | Door County | 76 | 11,116 | 19% | 48% | 5 |
| 8 | Burnett County | 75 | 10,391 | 34% | 35% | 10 |
| 9 | Polk County | 74 | 14,728 | 19% | 25% | 19.6 |
| 10 | Sauk County | 69 | 15,290 | 8% | 25% | 13 |
| 11 | Barron County | 68 | 13,721 | 11% | 27% | 24.4 |
| 12 | Grant County | 67 | 22,876 | 7% | 23% | 22 |
| 13 | Dane County | 64 | 29,183 | 3% | 28% | 3.9 |
| 14 | Columbia County | 63 | 13,836 | 5% | 27% | 20 |
| 15 | St. Croix County | 61 | 12,220 | 8% | 28% | 20 |
| 16 | Iron County | 58 | 4,206 | 22% | 32% | 9.9 |
| 17 | Oconto County | 57 | 12,052 | 4% | 32% | 14.9 |
| 18 | Douglas County | 56 | 12,693 | 18% | 21% | 10 |
| 19 | Forest County | 56 | 4,994 | 13% | 36% | 5.2 |
| 20 | Racine County | 54 | 7,464 | 5% | 40% | 1.3 |
| 21 | Florence County | 54 | 3,445 | 15% | 33% | 4.6 |
| 22 | Green Lake County | 53 | 6,953 | 10% | 30% | 19.4 |
| 23 | Dodge County | 50 | 12,226 | 3% | 31% | 25 |
| 24 | Marathon County | 50 | 21,210 | 2% | 22% | 26.6 |
| 25 | Ashland County | 48 | 6,288 | 19% | 25% | 20 |
How the ranking works
- Vacant land supply: the number of parcels the county itself codes as vacant land. More vacant parcels means more owners to make offers to.
- Out-of-state owners: the share of owners whose mailing address is in another state. Distant owners rarely use their land and are the core of most land mail campaigns.
- Absentee owners: the share whose mailing address is not the parcel's address, a wider version of the same signal.
- Each county is ranked against the rest of Wisconsin on all three, and the score is the average, from 0 to 100. Counties with fewer than 500 vacant parcels or 1,000 mailable owners are left out, as are counties whose address records can't support the owner-location comparison.
- What it doesn't measure: sale prices, how fast land sells, or buyer demand. Parcel records don't carry those, so check sold comps and access for any parcel before you buy.
Ready to mail? Build a list of vacant-land owners in any of these counties, filtered by acreage and owner location.
Land flipping in Wisconsin: FAQ
What is the best county for land flipping in Wisconsin?
On our parcel-record ranking, Vilas County comes first in Wisconsin, followed by Walworth County and Adams County. 13,849 vacant parcels, 22% of owners live out of state and 48% of owners are absentee. The typical vacant parcel is 1.8 acres. The ranking covers 52 Wisconsin counties and measures how much vacant land a county has and how many of its owners live away from their property.
How is the land flipping score calculated?
Each county is ranked against the other counties in its state on three figures from its own parcel roll: the number of vacant land parcels, the share of owners whose mailing address is in another state, and the share whose mailing address is not the parcel's address. The score is the average of those three rankings, from 0 to 100, so a county scores high only when it does well on more than one. Counties with fewer than 500 vacant parcels or fewer than 1,000 owners with a mailing address are left out.
Why do out-of-state and absentee owners matter for land flipping?
An owner who lives far from a vacant parcel rarely visits it, still pays taxes on it, and often has no plan for it. Those owners are the ones land investors usually mail with cash offers, and a county with many of them gives a mail campaign more owners to reach.
Does a high score mean land is cheap or sells fast there?
No. The score uses parcel records only, and parcel records carry no sale prices, days on market or buyer demand. Before you buy, check recent sold comps, road access, zoning and back taxes for the specific parcel.
Other states
- Best counties for land flipping in the US
- Best counties for land flipping in Florida
- Best counties for land flipping in Mississippi
- Best counties for land flipping in Montana
- Best counties for land flipping in Tennessee
- Best counties for land flipping in Texas
- Best counties for land flipping in West Virginia