Publications

Chronic diseases are the leading causes of preventable death in the U.S., and in rural America the problem is getting worse. In 2023, rural counties had higher rates of chronic disease than urban counties (Figure 1). Between 2010 and 2022, the gap in leading chronic disease causes of death widened between the most rural and the most urban counties (García et al., 2024). Wisconsin faces trends similar to those in rural areas nationally. As the chronic health gaps continue to grow, it is increasingly important to understand what drives rural health outcomes and how it impacts rural livability. 

Those who live and work in rural Wisconsin often champion the attributes that make rural different from their view of big cities. In fact, there is a certain degree of pride in positioning rural as distinctly separate from urban. Yet, we know from an economic perspective that rural and urban places are intertwined: inputs to many urban businesses are supplied by firms in rural areas, rural residents often shop in nearby urban areas, and commuting often ties rural workers to urban employment centers as well as urban workers to rural communities through reverse commuting. This interconnectedness not only blurs the line between rural and urban, but it also has implications for community economic development, especially in rural contexts.  

Following a national trend, Wisconsin is experiencing a structural labor shortage: there are not enough qualified workers to fill available jobs. From January 2021 through February 2025, the state averaged 190,180 job openings per month, while only 97,081 individuals were unemployed resulting in an average monthly shortfall of 93,099 workers. This imbalance, combined with low unemployment and declining labor force participation, means that while job seekers may have an easier time finding work, there are simply not enough people actively seeking employment to meet demand. Contributing factors include an aging population, childcare and eldercare responsibilities (which disproportionately impact women), and a mismatch between the skills of available workers and the requirements of open positions.

Housing affordability is a growing concern across Wisconsin and the U.S. at large. Housing costs continue to rise while affordable options are getting harder to find and while job earnings have grown, earnings have failed to keep pace with housing costs. The result is that many households are struggling to keep up with the increasing cost of housing, leading to housing financial stress and increasing instability. While there is no widely accepted measure of housing financial stress, a common method uses a threshold of spending more than 30% of their income on housing. The number of households in the United States and Wisconsin spending over 30% of their income on housing is steadily increasing with no signs of slowing down. 

In this WIndicator we focus on a relatively simple measure of prosperity to gain insight on the broader question of livability and contribute to ongoing local discussions. We explored patterns of place prosperity across four distinct dimensions: poverty, unemployment, housing, and education. Our analysis includes all U.S. counties and extends over time across three decades.

Every five years the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) undertakes a detailed inventory of farming operations across the country. The most recent, the 2022 Census of Agriculture, aims to provide a detailed snapshot of the nation’s farming economy, including information on farm demographics, production practices, land use, and economic trends. The intent of this issue of WIndicator is to provide an overview of recent trends in Wisconsin farming using the Census of Agriculture. We pay particular attention to the changes since the last Census in 2017 to understand trends in key metrics for Wisconsin agriculture with some references to longer term trends (1997 to 2022).