Without More People Moving to Wisconsin, Working Age Population Expected to Fall by 130,000 People

Wednesday, October 26th, 2022 -- 10:01 AM

(By Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) Without more people moving to Wisconsin, the state’s working age population is expected to shrink by about 130,000 people within eight years. 

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, that’s according to a recent report by Forward Analytics, the research arm of the Wisconsin Counties Association. The report found that Wisconsin struggles to attract and retain young people.

Additionally, research shows that Wisconsin loses more college graduates than it retains. The state lost at least 106,000 people younger than age 26 over the last decade, which could have long-term consequences for Wisconsin's labor force, according to the report.

"Attracting and retaining these young people is critical for Wisconsin," Forward Analytics Director Dale Knapp said in a statement. "Attracting and retaining them would not only grow the current workforce, it would also help long term as many of these young adults will soon be starting a family and raising the next generation of workers."

From 2012 to 2020, the report found more than 460,000 families moved out of Wisconsin. Of those families, over two-thirds moved to a state that doesn’t border Wisconsin. Over the last 10 years, net migration into Wisconsin decreased by almost a third compared to the prior decade and 75 percent from the 1990s, the report said.

Forward Analytics researcher Kevin Dospoy, who authored the report, said young people typically leave the state for better paying career opportunities in big cities. "At the same time, the baby boomer generation is fully retiring," he said. "This is not necessarily unique to Wisconsin, the workforce shortage is kind of everywhere, but it's a little bit more acute in Wisconsin since we are losing so many young people."

Wisconsin Policy Forum researcher Joe Peterangelo authored a 2019 report examining the state’s difficulty retaining college graduates. The report, titled "Wisconsin’s Brain Drain Problem," found that the state loses more college grads than it retains.

The study found that between 2006 and 2016, an average of 82,965 people left the state, while an average of 76,560 people moved into the state. In fact, a recent analysis by the Washington Post found that Wisconsin loses a little more than 20 percent of its college grads on average.

Peterangelo said a net loss of college graduates has a negative impact on the state’s economy because many jobs that require a college degree are associated with innovation and economic growth.

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