The Greater Northwoods

Community in Iron County

Mercer

County
Iron County

Mercer is an unincorporated community in the Town of Mercer, southern Iron County, in far-northern Wisconsin, branded the 'Loon Capital of the World.' The Census-designated place (Mercer CDP) covers about 4.45 square miles with an internal point at 46.16N, -90.04W, while the surrounding Town of Mercer spans about 168 square miles of land and counted 1,649 residents in the 2020 Census. The economy is overwhelmingly tourism and recreation, anchored by the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage and more than 200 inland lakes, with a heavy seasonal population swing; the single-site Mercer School District enrolled 92 students in 2024-2025. Iron County has no hospital, and Mercer lost its Marshfield clinic in January 2024, so residents travel to Minocqua or Ironwood for hospital care.

The record

881 records name Mercer

  • 664 news
  • 128 government
  • 84 events
  • 3 obituaries
  • 2 opinion

Showing the 40 most recent of 881. Every one is held, cited, and searchable in the archive.

What the records show

38 of 47 independently verified

Authoritative data

Overview

Population and demographics

  • Town 2020: 1649 via townofmercer.com
  • Town 2000: 1732 secondary source via townofmercer.com Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.
  • Cdp 2020: 507 unverified via www2.census.gov We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Income: 31413 unverified via townofmercer.com We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Age: 50 unverified via townofmercer.com We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Seasonal: large seasonal swing unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.

Government and civic

Schools

Economy and employers

  • Tourism: tourism / recreation secondary source via en.wikipedia.org Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.
  • Healthcare loss: Marshfield Mercer clinic closed via wxpr.org
  • Employers: Mercer School District; Town of Mercer; resorts/hospitality unverified via mercercc.com We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.

Institutions and anchors

Business and commerce

  • Chamber: Mercer Area Chamber of Commerce via mercercc.com
  • Downtown: US 51 corridor; Claire de Loon statue secondary source via en.wikipedia.org Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.

Media

Recreation and natural assets

  • Loon: Loon Capital of the World secondary source via en.wikipedia.org Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.
  • Flowage: 40000 via dnr.wisconsin.gov
  • Lakes: 214 secondary source via en.wikipedia.org Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.
  • Snow: 200+ in snow; 500+ mi county trails secondary source via mercersnogoers.com Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.

Events and seasonal rhythm

  • Loonday: Loon Day (first Wednesday in August) secondary source via en.wikipedia.org Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.
  • Winter: four-season, winter co-peak secondary source via mercersnogoers.com Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.

Infrastructure and access

  • Highways: US 51; WIS 47; WIS 182 secondary source via en.wikipedia.org Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.
  • Coords: 46.161334, -90.041842 via www2.census.gov
  • Land cdp: 4.452 via www2.census.gov
  • Land town: 168.0 via townofmercer.com
  • Airport: IWD ~30 mi; RHI ~56 mi unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Hubs: Minocqua ~30 mi; Rhinelander ~55 mi; Hurley ~16 mi unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Broadband: unknown unverified via townofmercer.com We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.

Local government

In memory, from Mercer

All obituaries

Every figure here traces to a primary public record, linked at the fact. We gather and cite; we do not author. See something off? Tell us.

All Northwoods towns