The local economy of Wisconsin and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
3.2%
August 2026, 3.1% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,353
Q1 2026, 2,902,580 jobs
New homes permitted
25,771
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
+2,360
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Wisconsin, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Wisconsin is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in Wisconsin was 3.2% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 3.1% a year earlier. 3,046,167 people were employed out of a labor force of 3,148,250. Among its counties, Lafayette County had the lowest rate (2.5%) and Menominee County the highest (5.8%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Wisconsin was $1,353 in Q1 2026, up 3.7% from a year earlier, across 2,902,580 jobs at 207,977 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 2,438 new homes in Wisconsin in August 2026 (1,340 single-family and 964 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 16,819, up 3.5% from the same months last year, and 25,771 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Dane County (6,019), Waukesha County (1,558), Brown County (1,551) over the last 12 months.
Yes. From 2022 to 2023, 91,196 people moved to Wisconsin and 88,836 moved away, a net gain of 2,360 (+0.5 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from Illinois, Minnesota, Florida, and most people who left went to Minnesota, Illinois, Florida.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for Wisconsin. In its region, Midwest, regular gasoline averaged $4.29 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.