Wisconsin workers see higher wages, fewer jobs, increased disparities

The Cap Times is an independent newsroom serving Madison and Wisconsin. Sign up for the Food & Culture newsletter for exclusive weekly insight. The economic landscape for workers is mixed, according to the 'State of Working Wisconsin,' an annual report released on Sept. 4 by the High Road Strategy Center, a University of Wisconsin-Madison think tank. The report found that the median wage for Wisconsin workers reached an all-time high — $26.17 an hour — in 2025. The report also detailed stagnant job growth, inflation undermining paychecks, and sharply rising disparities between unemployment rates among Black and white employees, as well as how the federal government's deportation campaign affected the state's economic output. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 'State of Working Wisconsin' report, written by Laura Dresser, Joel Rogers and Leslie Vasquez. 'Wages have grown faster than inflation every year since 2020, except 2022 when inflation was really high,' said Dresser, associate director of the High Road Strategy Center. 'Across the period, wages have gone up more for low-wage workers than higher-wage workers.' Lower-wage workers (those in the 20th percentile) saw their wages rise 15.9% between 2019 and 2025, compared to workers in the 80th percentile, whose wages rose 8.2% in that same time frame. Last year, the report found the state's median wage was $25 an hour, adjusted for inflation. Laura Dresser, shown at Cap Times Idea Fest in 2018, has been part of the High Road Strategy Center (formerly the Center on Wisconsin Strategy) since 1996. Dresser noted that wage increases often stem from a thriving job market where workers have many options. This year's report found that job growth has plateaued. 'Since January 2025, the state has actually lost jobs while national job growth has continued,' the report reads. Dresser also pointed out that data indicates that, so far in 2026, wages are not keeping up with inflation. 'We could easily see wages down next year,' she said. Unemployment is also drifting up, though it remains low at 3.3%. In 2023, the unemployment rate was 2.6%. However, the report found that there are significant gaps in unemployment rates between Black and white workers. The unemployment rate for Black workers is 7.2%; for white workers, it's 2.3%. 'The gap between Black and white unemployment rates in Wisconsin — where Black residents are 2.9 times more likely to be unemployed — marks Wisconsin's return to having one of the largest racial disparities in the nation,' the report reads. This year's report attempts to quantify some of the effects of policy moves under the Trump administration, such as tariffs, the stripping of collective bargaining rights for federal workers, and mass deportations. 'American families paid at least $1,000 in increased tariff costs last year,' Dresser said. 'We know that (Wisconsin) manufacturing jobs are stagnant. If the intent of tariff policy was to bring back jobs in manufacturing, there is no evidence that it is having any impact like that at this point.' Despite growing interest in unions and more people viewing them favorably, 'unions are facing sharp policy headwinds, especially in Wisconsin,' the report reads. Last year, the White House removed collective bargaining rights for over a million federal workers. Wisconsin's public sector unions have already been undermined for over a decade by Act 10, a controversial law signed by former Gov. Scott Walker that stripped public sector workers of their bargaining rights (although the state Supreme Court could take on cases looking to restore bargaining rights this year). The report found that only 7.5% of workers in Wisconsin belong to unions. That represents a nearly 50% decline in union membership since 2011, when 14% of workers belonged to a union, a much faster decline than the national average (from around 13% to 11% in the same time period). The report notes correlations between the decline in union membership and rising inequity. Wisconsin's unionization fell three times faster than the national rate, according to a recent report called "The State of Working Wisconsin." The report also highlights how immigrant communities contribute to Wisconsin's economy. 'Some 320,000 immigrants call Wisconsin home, generating $23 billion in economic output each year,' the report reads. Researchers found no increase in employment for U.S.-born men due to deportations. The report isolated Wisconsin's share of federal funding to the current administration's mass deportation campaign — $3.8 billion, or $1,728 from every taxpayer in the state. Dresser said it's vital to pay attention to how policy changes affect workers because they can have long-term consequences. 'The much deeper, long-cycle story ... is this restructuring of jobs and the American economy in ways that reward the very rich and holders of capital, and have really compressed and held down workers' wages,' she said. Affordability remains a pressing concern for Wisconsinites and people across the U.S. It's one of the four subsections the report breaks down, along with jobs, wages and unions. The report used data from United for ALICE, a national dataset which examines ALICE households — asset-limited, income-constrained, employed — or families living above the federal poverty level but still unable to comfortably afford basic needs. In Wisconsin, the ALICE survival threshold budget for a family of four is $84.732. One third of Wisconsin families fall under that threshold. Other rising costs, like utilities, make it worse. Surging prices leave more and more working Wisconsinites unable to cover the basics, according to "The State of Working Wisconsin 2026." 'Wisconsin households are paying 19% more today than they were in 2022 (for utilities),' the report reads. Dresser has been part of the High Road Strategy Center, formerly the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, since it first started releasing the 'State of Working Wisconsin' report in 1996. She's worked on all 30 annual reports. She said the intent was to provide a worker-focused report on the state of the economy. Now, 'more than 40 groups across the nation release reports on working people in their states,' the report reads. Dresser has more access to data than ever before, but the report warns that federal data, on which many of the findings are based, could soon become unreliable. (Dresser pointed out that for right now, she believes the data to still be reliable). The report notes that President Trump fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer in August 2025. He accused her of rigging the job-creation numbers in an August 2025 report, among other accusations. 'Federal data has also been the core source of this report for decades, allowing us to see what is going on in Wisconsin from a worker's perspective,' the State of Working Wisconsin report reads. 'Replacing the BLS commissioner sends a signal that the president will only accept data that confirms his narrative.' Despite the report's mixed findings, Dresser hopes people will use it to build solidarity and see themselves aligned with other workers. 'I hope people see themselves in the data and they see each other,' she said. "We are a very rich nation. We're as rich as we've ever been. We have tons and tons of resources, and we could do better for people if we thought about how we want to live together.' Ashley Rodriguez is a features reporter for the Cap Times. 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