Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine Moving To and From Wisconsin: Migration and the Badger State

Dale J. Knapp or Todd A. Berry

Wisconsin’s Migration Trends Turning Negative

Since 2001, State Lost As Much As $8 Billion in Income from Interstate Migration

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MADISON—Over the last 15 years, Wisconsin has shifted from a net gainer of people and income from migration to a net loser, according to a new study from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX) that relies on U.S. tax returns. During 2001-10, the state lost as much as $8 billion of household income from more people leaving than coming to the state. The report, “Moving To and From Wisconsin: Migration and the Badger State,” also cites significant numbers of high-income retirees leaving the Badger State for Florida. WISTAX is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to public policy research and citizen education.

The study shows Wisconsin gaining people during the late 1990s and early 2000s. From 1994 through 2004, more people moved to Wisconsin than left in every year except 1997 and 1998—the state gained an average of 3,000 people per year during these years. Beginning in 2005, however, more people began leaving Wisconsin than coming here. The net loss reached 9,703 in 2010. During 2006-10, Wisconsin’s net population loss due to interstate migration was more than 24,000, and the state was a net loser with 39 states, including both Iowa and Minnesota.
With the loss of people came a loss of income. The state lost $432.5 million of household income in 2010. The cumulative impact of migration during 2001-10 was lost income of up to $8 billion.

Borders and weather matter for migration, as do other factors. For many Wisconsin movers, the move was only as far as a neighboring state, particularly Illinois or Minnesota. During 2006-10, nearly 110,000 Wisconsinites moved to one of those states, while 137,000 moved from there to Wisconsin. If not moving to a neighboring state, many moved to warm-weather Florida (27,826), Texas (25,319), California (22,502), or Arizona (16,822).

One of the most troubling findings was the number of high-income residents—likely retirees—moving to Florida. While the average income of all Wisconsin movers was about $48,000, the average of the 30,000 Wisconsinites moving to Florida was almost $82,000. Average income of those moving to specific “retirement counties,” like Collier (Naples), Lee (Fort Myers), Manatee (Bradenton), Palm Beach, and Sarasota was closer to $150,000 per year. Wisconsin lost more than $1 billion of income to these five counties during 2006-10.

A significant portion of the migration to and from Wisconsin appears to be either college students starting school or recent college graduates, WISTAX said. About 26% of those moving to Wisconsin during 2006-10 were between 18 and 24 years old. But among those 25-or-older with a college degree, migration patterns were troubling. During 2006-10, the UW System granted more than 100,000 bachelor’s degrees. Another 110,000 people with a bachelor’s degree moved here from another state. However, in 2010, Wisconsin had only about 76,000 more residents with a bachelor’s degree than it did in 2006, suggesting a significant outflow of degreed residents.

WISTAX researchers noted that the importance of migration can be even greater for local communities than for the state. Net, Milwaukee County lost more than 35,000 people and nearly $1.3 billion due to migration to other states or to other counties in Wisconsin. About 44% of the 123,000 people who left the county went to another state, and nearly all of the in-state loss was to surrounding counties (Ozaukee, Racine, Washington, and Waukesha).

Among Wisconsin’s other 71 counties, Waukesha (+3,496), St. Croix (+3.287), and Washington (+3,126) gained the most. However, seven counties—Buffalo, Clark, Florence, Menominee, Milwaukee, Pepin, and Richland—lost more than 2% of their population from migration.

A free copy of The Wisconsin Taxpayer, “Moving To and From Wisconsin: Migration and the Badger State,” is available by visiting www.wistax.org; e-mailing ; calling ; or writing WISTAX at 401 North Lawn Ave., Madison, WI .