Weekly Fiscal Facts are provided to Wisconsin NewsMedia Association members by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. The Wisconsin Policy Forum logo can be downloaded here.
Wisconsin-born adults who have moved to other states are more likely to be college educated than their counterparts born in other states who move to Wisconsin, producing a net brain drain rate that is among the worst in the nation.
While this finding appears concerning at first glance, there are mitigating factors. People born in Wisconsin are more highly educated than Americans overall, and at least since 2020, the state has added more residents than it has lost through domestic migration. As a result, educational attainment among current Wisconsin residents remains close to the national average.
Our state’s challenges with brain drain are longstanding and well-documented. While methods used to measure this phenomenon may differ, for this report we use methods consistent with our previous research and with those used for a 2019 study by the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress.
Our analysis includes U.S.-born adults ages 31 to 40 from all 50 states. For each state, we compared the share of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher among those born in the state who now live elsewhere (“leavers”) with the share among adults born in another state who now live here (“entrants”). We focus on this age range to capture adults after most college-related moves occur but before retirement moves begin.
Based on our analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates, we estimate that 59.8% of Wisconsin-born adults aged 31 to 40 who now live in another state have a bachelor’s degree or higher. In contrast, an estimated 45.2% of adults in that age group who were born in another state but now live in Wisconsin hold a bachelor’s degree or higher — a gap of 14.6 percentage points.
By this measure, Wisconsin’s net brain drain ranks second nationally among the states, behind only North Dakota. Most other Midwestern states have experienced similarly high rates of net brain drain, with the exception of Illinois, which stands out as the region’s only net “brain‑gain” state.
The states that were destinations for the most college-educated Wisconsin natives were Minnesota and Illinois, respectively. Wisconsin saw a pronounced net brain drain to Minnesota, as our estimates find it gained only 0.56 highly educated adults from Minnesota for every highly educated Wisconsin-born person who moved to that state.
However, Wisconsin gained an estimated 1.51 highly educated entrants from Illinois for every highly educated Wisconsinite lost to that state. Illinois was the top state of origin for movers to Wisconsin, with nearly a quarter (24.4%) of highly educated entrants to Wisconsin coming from Illinois.
Wisconsin also experienced net-positive brain gain with other Midwestern states. For example, it gained 1.65 highly educated residents for each one who moved to Michigan, and 2 residents for each one who moved to Iowa.
However, the opposite was true with respect to states in the western and southern U.S. Wisconsin gained about one highly educated resident for every five who moved to Colorado, about one for every two that moved to Texas, and about one for every three that moved to Florida.
If policymakers wish to take additional steps to address Wisconsin’s brain drain, they may consider steps taken by other states. Ohio has incentivized college students to stay in the state through programs such as discounted mortgage interest rates for recent graduates. Texas has focused on attracting existing businesses from other states by providing relocation assistance and tax incentives. And Minnesota has developed a network of local organizations that recruit people to move to rural areas of the state.
Ultimately, the net loss of educated, talented individuals has been a longstanding policy challenge for our state. Finding new ways to address it will be critical for our long-term economic growth.
This information is provided to Wisconsin NewsMedia Association members as a service of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. Learn more at wispolicyforum.org.
