The State of Working Wisconsin 2024 report from UW–Madison’s High Road Strategy Center found that income inequality in Wisconsin is declining, with faster wage growth among lower-wage workers, according to WisBusiness.
The report says this change represents a trend reversal from the past roughly four decades, and the income gap between lower- and higher-income workers has been closing over the recovery period from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It also highlights substantial disparities, however, by gender, race, education, and geography. The median hourly wage for women in Wisconsin was $22.03 in 2023, compared with $25.09 for men. Black state residents are earning around 25% less and Hispanic residents roughly 32% less than white men in terms of median wages.
Black and Hispanic women, however, saw strong wage growth between 2019–2023, at 19% and 7%, respectively. No other group saw growth over 4%.
State job totals are setting new record highs, with 3,048,000 in June, and unemployment remains at near-historic lows, at about 3%. The median hourly wage in 2023 spiked to $23.90, up almost $1 per hour from the year before, while the average hourly wage increase from 1979–2023 was 7 cents.
Lower-wage workers made up around 20% of the state workforce between 2019–23 and in that time saw 8% wage growth.
