Badger Institute

Wisconsin’s public schools are losing students faster than districts are downsizing their staff, analysis of data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction shows.

If most young families really do prefer a single-family house, why not build enough houses to satisfy buyers? One reason is that it’s so easy for people who are not in the business of building houses and not in the market to buy them to say “no.”

After reaching an all-time high of 14.85%, the share of people who work from home has come down to just over 12% in 2023, still about three times the percentage of remote workers in 2015.

Aaron LeClair admits that he got lucky to find an affordable home when he came back to Door County in 2004. He wishes all the emergency medical services staff who work for him — and can’t afford to live anywhere in Door County — had the same kind of luck.

Market data show that many Wisconsinites are now priced out of homeownership. This wasn’t always the case, however. But things have changed sharply since 2021...

Scouting leaders say they’re hoping that legislation granting them a few minutes for a recruiting talk at the start of Wisconsin public schools’ academic year is more successful this time around. Last year, the measure sailed through both chambers on voice votes until it ran into a veto by Gov. Tony Evers.

In the Badger State, the cost of owning a house relative to income has taken a dramatic turn upward. The time it takes to save enough for a down payment has grown steadily longer, too. The deep dive on affordability and income in Wisconsin is here.

The number of teachers per 100 students, when looked at in aggregate across Wisconsin, is higher than it has been in at least 15 years. When examining district-level data, however, the wrinkles begin to emerge.

The total number of incarcerated persons in Wisconsin’s prisons ticked up between 2023 and 2024 but is still lower than its pre-COVID level, data from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections show.

In any period of spiking home prices, professionals in EMS, firefighting, law enforcement and teaching find it hard to live where they work. This is the story of one such man serving Vilas County.