Opportunity Scorecard: Wisconsin

Building off our Opportunity Index model, we looked at cost of living and wages paid across every region in Wisconsin to see how much opportunity there was for workers. Jobs fall into four categories: hardship jobs, living-wage jobs, middle-class jobs, and professional jobs.¹

In Wisconsin, statewide, only 43% of jobs support a middle class life or better and on average, individuals need $40,975 to get to a middle class life. Results in Wisconsin are mixed when looking at individual metro areas. Madison, Eau Claire, and Appleton all added jobs and businesses between 2005 and 2015, but all three of these areas have a percentage of middle class or professional jobs that’s below the state average. Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, and Milwaukee all have a higher than average percentage of jobs that are at least middle class but all three metros either lost jobs or businesses or both between 2005 and 2015. One thing that’s clear though is that the rural areas in Wisconsin seem to falling behind the metros. All four rural areas lost businesses, three out of the four lost jobs, and not one has more than 40% of its jobs that can be considered middle class or better.