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Ancestry refers to the lineage or descent of a person, family, or group, tracing back through generations to identify their origins, heritage, and familial connections. It encompasses the genetic, cultural, and historical ties that link individuals to their forebears, shaping their identity and sense of belonging. Ancestry is a multifaceted concept, intertwining biology, genealogy, history, and culture, and it plays a significant role in how people understand themselves and their place in the world.

At its core, ancestry is rooted in genetics. Each individual inherits a unique combination of DNA from their parents, who in turn inherited their DNA from their own ancestors. This genetic material carries information about physical traits, predispositions to certain health conditions, and even behavioral tendencies. Advances in genetic testing, such as DNA analysis, have made it possible for individuals to trace their biological ancestry with remarkable precision. Companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA offer services that analyze genetic markers to provide insights into a person's ethnic composition and geographic origins, often revealing surprising connections to distant relatives or previously unknown heritage.

Beyond genetics, ancestry is deeply tied to genealogy, the study of family history and lineage. Genealogical research involves constructing family trees, documenting relationships, and uncovering historical records such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, census data, and immigration documents. This process often reveals stories of migration, resilience, and adaptation, offering a window into the lives of ancestors and the challenges they faced. For many, genealogy is a way to honor their forebears and preserve their legacy for future generations.

Cultural ancestry is another critical dimension, encompassing the traditions, languages, customs, and values passed down through generations. It connects individuals to their ethnic or national heritage, shaping their cultural identity and worldview. For example, someone with Irish ancestry might celebrate St. Patrick's Day, learn traditional Irish dance, or explore the Gaelic language, while someone with Japanese ancestry might practice tea ceremonies, study calligraphy, or observe Obon festivals. Cultural ancestry fosters a sense of continuity and belonging, linking individuals to a broader community with shared experiences and values.

Historical ancestry delves into the broader context of a family's or group's past, including significant events, social conditions, and historical movements that shaped their lives. For instance, the transatlantic slave trade, the Irish Potato Famine, or the Jewish diaspora have profoundly influenced the ancestry of millions of people, leaving lasting imprints on their descendants' identities. Understanding historical ancestry often involves grappling with complex narratives of triumph and tragedy, resilience and oppression, and the interplay of individual and collective experiences.

Ancestry also has a deeply personal and emotional dimension. For many, exploring their ancestry is a journey of self-discovery, offering insights into who they are and where they come from. It can foster a sense of pride, connection, and continuity, as well as a deeper appreciation for the struggles and achievements of those who came before. At the same time, it can raise questions about identity, belonging, and the complexities of heritage, particularly for individuals with mixed or multicultural backgrounds.

In a globalized world, ancestry serves as a bridge between the past and the present, connecting individuals to their roots while also highlighting the interconnectedness of human history. It underscores the diversity and richness of human experience, reminding us that every person's story is part of a larger tapestry woven over centuries. Whether through genetic testing, genealogical research, cultural practices, or historical exploration, ancestry offers a profound way to understand ourselves and our place in the world.

A diversification score measures the diversity of ancestries in the county. As the value appoaches 100, ancestry diversity decreases and therefore increasing the risk of a lack of cultural diversity. The ancestry diversification score for this county is:

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

Ancestry Report Part I
Description	Total Population	American	Native American	Hawaiian	Caribbean (Latino)	Mexican	Central American	South American	Other Hispanic	African American	Sub- Saharan	Caribbean (Black)

Taylor County	20,229	728	43	2	40	465	39	2	28	54	4	3
Wisconsin (in 000's)	6,000	169	47	2	78	317	21	21	17	237	71	54
National (in 000's)	343,251	13,890	2,213	626	11,327	38,879	6,181	4,644	3,687	25,893	7,852	7,174
Marathon County	139,247	3,535	540	33	461	3,248	413	136	248	583	166	142
Chippewa County	67,971	2,117	292	13	276	883	23	41	73	807	233	34
Clark County	35,104	1,551	119	5	325	1,587	116	21	71	53	30	14
Lincoln County	28,735	949	109	3	30	275	39	120	104	98	29	15
Rusk County	14,175	611	55	4	39	173	9	0	42	76	8	5
Price County	14,068	395	80	102	52	133	0	0	14	25	2	2

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Taylor County	22.00	3.60	0.21	0.01	0.20	2.30	0.19	0.01	0.14	0.27	0.02	0.01
Wisconsin	11.41	2.81	0.78	0.03	1.31	5.28	0.34	0.36	0.28	3.95	1.18	0.91
National	7.83	4.05	0.64	0.18	3.30	11.33	1.80	1.35	1.07	7.54	2.29	2.09
Marathon County	16.96	2.54	0.39	0.02	0.33	2.33	0.30	0.10	0.18	0.42	0.12	0.10
Chippewa County	16.78	3.11	0.43	0.02	0.41	1.30	0.03	0.06	0.11	1.19	0.34	0.05
Clark County	19.58	4.42	0.34	0.01	0.93	4.52	0.33	0.06	0.20	0.15	0.09	0.04
Lincoln County	20.54	3.30	0.38	0.01	0.10	0.96	0.14	0.42	0.36	0.34	0.10	0.05
Rusk County	15.23	4.31	0.39	0.03	0.28	1.22	0.06	0.00	0.30	0.54	0.06	0.04
Price County	16.88	2.81	0.57	0.73	0.37	0.95	0.00	0.00	0.10	0.18	0.01	0.01

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Taylor County		128.07	27.08	31.86	15.12	43.51	56.15	2.76	48.92	6.77	1.68	1.64
Wisconsin		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		144.01	82.15	588.06	252.41	214.40	524.49	378.17	379.65	191.21	194.46	230.61
Marathon County		90.34	49.41	76.37	25.32	44.15	86.38	27.30	62.95	10.61	10.13	11.25
Chippewa County		110.84	54.73	61.63	31.06	24.59	9.86	16.86	37.96	30.09	29.14	5.52
Clark County		157.23	43.19	45.90	70.81	85.57	96.24	16.72	71.49	3.83	7.26	4.40
Lincoln County		117.53	48.33	33.64	7.99	18.12	39.53	116.73	127.93	8.64	8.58	5.76
Rusk County		153.39	49.43	90.94	21.04	23.10	18.49	0.00	104.73	13.59	4.80	3.89
Price County		99.92	72.45	2,336.50	28.27	17.90	0.00	0.00	35.18	4.50	1.21	1.57

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Taylor County		88.93	32.97	5.42	5.99	20.29	10.71	0.73	12.89	3.54	0.86	0.71
Wisconsin		69.44	121.73	17.00	39.62	46.64	19.07	26.44	26.34	52.30	51.42	43.36
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Marathon County		62.73	60.14	12.99	10.03	20.59	16.47	7.22	16.58	5.55	5.21	4.88
Chippewa County		76.97	66.63	10.48	12.30	11.47	1.88	4.46	10.00	15.74	14.99	2.39
Clark County		109.18	52.57	7.81	28.06	39.91	18.35	4.42	18.83	2.00	3.74	1.91
Lincoln County		81.61	58.83	5.72	3.16	8.45	7.54	30.87	33.70	4.52	4.41	2.50
Rusk County		106.52	60.18	15.46	8.34	10.78	3.53	0.00	27.59	7.11	2.47	1.69
Price County		69.39	88.19	397.32	11.20	8.35	0.00	0.00	9.27	2.36	0.62	0.68

Ancestry Report Part II
Description	Total Population	Canadian	British	Dutch	French	German	Italian	Polish	Scandinavian	Scotish/ Irish	Spanish	Other European

Taylor County	20,229	92	498	89	284	7,918	157	1,411	1,335	782	17	646
Wisconsin (in 000's)	6,000	29	230	73	110	1,496	113	273	398	364	10	204
National (in 000's)	343,251	1,350	18,069	1,828	3,642	24,708	9,027	4,667	5,969	20,625	1,140	9,563
Marathon County	139,247	840	4,508	1,277	2,195	48,510	1,527	13,218	6,819	6,270	155	3,853
Chippewa County	67,971	785	2,470	404	1,397	19,386	591	2,128	7,801	4,314	5	2,340
Clark County	35,104	83	1,118	241	432	12,379	207	1,901	2,003	1,312	19	1,014
Lincoln County	28,735	229	909	415	617	11,207	507	1,336	2,210	1,432	61	952
Rusk County	14,175	118	654	204	316	3,644	165	1,074	1,324	891	43	549
Price County	14,068	79	675	128	267	4,646	178	610	1,557	768	4	1,195

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Taylor County	22.00	0.45	2.46	0.44	1.40	39.14	0.78	6.98	6.60	3.87	0.08	3.19
Wisconsin	11.41	0.48	3.83	1.22	1.84	24.93	1.88	4.55	6.63	6.07	0.16	3.40
National	7.83	0.39	5.26	0.53	1.06	7.20	2.63	1.36	1.74	6.01	0.33	2.79
Marathon County	16.96	0.60	3.24	0.92	1.58	34.84	1.10	9.49	4.90	4.50	0.11	2.77
Chippewa County	16.78	1.15	3.63	0.59	2.06	28.52	0.87	3.13	11.48	6.35	0.01	3.44
Clark County	19.58	0.24	3.18	0.69	1.23	35.26	0.59	5.42	5.71	3.74	0.05	2.89
Lincoln County	20.54	0.80	3.16	1.44	2.15	39.00	1.76	4.65	7.69	4.98	0.21	3.31
Rusk County	15.23	0.83	4.61	1.44	2.23	25.71	1.16	7.58	9.34	6.29	0.30	3.87
Price County	16.88	0.56	4.80	0.91	1.90	33.03	1.27	4.34	11.07	5.46	0.03	8.49

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Taylor County		94.00	64.32	36.18	76.45	156.98	41.22	153.15	99.59	63.68	52.51	94.04
Wisconsin		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		81.30	137.54	43.79	57.77	28.87	139.68	29.85	26.24	98.98	207.57	82.05
Marathon County		124.69	84.59	75.41	85.84	139.72	58.24	208.43	73.90	74.17	69.55	81.49
Chippewa County		238.71	94.95	48.88	111.92	114.39	46.18	68.74	173.19	104.55	4.60	101.38
Clark County		48.87	83.21	56.45	67.01	141.43	31.32	118.91	86.10	61.57	33.82	85.07
Lincoln County		164.72	82.65	118.76	116.93	156.42	93.71	102.09	116.06	82.09	132.64	97.57
Rusk County		172.06	120.55	118.34	121.39	103.10	61.82	166.36	140.95	103.54	189.55	114.06
Price County		116.07	125.37	74.82	103.35	132.45	67.20	95.21	167.01	89.93	17.77	250.15

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Taylor County		115.62	46.77	82.61	132.32	543.77	29.51	513.03	379.53	64.34	25.30	114.62
Wisconsin		123.00	72.71	228.35	173.09	346.39	71.59	334.98	381.11	101.03	48.18	121.88
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Marathon County		153.36	61.50	172.20	148.58	483.97	41.70	698.18	281.63	74.94	33.51	99.31
Chippewa County		293.61	69.03	111.61	193.72	396.22	33.06	230.27	660.03	105.63	2.21	123.56
Clark County		60.11	60.50	128.91	115.99	489.89	22.42	398.30	328.14	62.20	16.29	103.68
Lincoln County		202.61	60.09	271.19	202.38	541.81	67.09	341.97	442.30	82.94	63.90	118.91
Rusk County		211.63	87.65	270.24	210.12	357.13	44.26	557.28	537.16	104.61	91.32	139.01
Price County		142.77	91.15	170.85	178.89	458.80	48.11	318.92	636.49	90.86	8.56	304.88

Ancestry Report Part III
Description	Total Population	Chinese	Filipino	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	South Central Asian	South East Asian	Other Asian	Middle Eastern	Other Ancestry	Unknown

Taylor County	20,229	0	7	0	38	0	0	5	7	0	1,025	4,510
Wisconsin (in 000's)	6,000	25	14	3	8	7	40	22	56	15	543	935
National (in 000's)	343,251	4,461	3,010	793	1,541	1,913	5,452	1,643	1,229	1,931	47,322	51,000
Marathon County	139,247	348	316	84	40	328	653	1,181	5,087	102	11,087	21,344
Chippewa County	67,971	108	184	20	55	23	19	63	516	20	3,833	16,717
Clark County	35,104	0	32	2	26	1	10	24	23	18	2,246	8,121
Lincoln County	28,735	20	37	1	8	7	17	8	17	9	1,564	5,401
Rusk County	14,175	21	6	3	1	0	0	3	14	7	676	3,440
Price County	14,068	11	16	5	1	0	5	9	25	4	678	2,402

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Taylor County	22.00	0.00	0.03	0.00	0.19	0.00	0.00	0.02	0.03	0.00	5.07	22.29
Wisconsin	11.41	0.41	0.23	0.05	0.14	0.12	0.66	0.37	0.93	0.24	9.06	15.57
National	7.83	1.30	0.88	0.23	0.45	0.56	1.59	0.48	0.36	0.56	13.79	14.86
Marathon County	16.96	0.25	0.23	0.06	0.03	0.24	0.47	0.85	3.65	0.07	7.96	15.33
Chippewa County	16.78	0.16	0.27	0.03	0.08	0.03	0.03	0.09	0.76	0.03	5.64	24.59
Clark County	19.58	0.00	0.09	0.01	0.07	0.00	0.03	0.07	0.07	0.05	6.40	23.13
Lincoln County	20.54	0.07	0.13	0.00	0.03	0.02	0.06	0.03	0.06	0.03	5.44	18.80
Rusk County	15.23	0.15	0.04	0.02	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.02	0.10	0.05	4.77	24.27
Price County	16.88	0.08	0.11	0.04	0.01	0.00	0.04	0.06	0.18	0.03	4.82	17.07

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Taylor County		0.00	15.32	0.00	135.38	0.00	0.00	6.61	3.71	0.00	55.94	143.15
Wisconsin		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		316.58	388.26	493.06	323.62	483.08	239.59	128.02	38.39	229.65	152.21	95.40
Marathon County		60.88	100.46	128.77	20.70	204.19	70.74	226.86	391.61	29.91	87.91	98.42
Chippewa County		38.70	119.84	62.81	58.32	29.33	4.22	24.79	81.38	12.01	62.26	157.92
Clark County		0.00	40.36	12.16	53.38	2.47	4.30	18.29	7.02	20.94	70.64	148.54
Lincoln County		16.95	57.00	7.43	20.06	21.12	8.92	7.45	6.34	12.79	60.09	120.69
Rusk County		36.09	18.74	45.18	5.08	0.00	0.00	5.66	10.59	20.16	52.65	155.82
Price County		19.05	50.35	75.87	5.12	0.00	5.36	17.11	19.05	11.61	53.21	109.63

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Taylor County		0.00	3.95	0.00	41.83	0.00	0.00	5.16	9.66	0.00	36.75	150.05
Wisconsin		31.59	25.76	20.28	30.90	20.70	41.74	78.11	260.46	43.54	65.70	104.82
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Marathon County		19.23	25.88	26.12	6.40	42.27	29.53	177.20	1,019.98	13.02	57.75	103.16
Chippewa County		12.23	30.87	12.74	18.02	6.07	1.76	19.37	211.95	5.23	40.90	165.53
Clark County		0.00	10.39	2.47	16.49	0.51	1.79	14.28	18.29	9.12	46.41	155.70
Lincoln County		5.36	14.68	1.51	6.20	4.37	3.72	5.82	16.52	5.57	39.48	126.50
Rusk County		11.40	4.83	9.16	1.57	0.00	0.00	4.42	27.58	8.78	34.59	163.33
Price County		6.02	12.97	15.39	1.58	0.00	2.24	13.37	49.62	5.06	34.96	114.92

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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