Fiscal Facts

Total enrollment in Wisconsin public schools declined for the fifth straight year in the 2018-19 school year, while the student population is more diverse.

For the eighth straight year in 2019, Wisconsinites paid a smaller share of their income in state and local taxes, dropping this measure of tax burden to its lowest in a half century.

Last year, Wisconsin’s “hidden deficit” in the general fund fell by more than $2 billion since 2011, the largest percentage decrease in decades.

On tax bills sent out this month, Wisconsin’s school districts together are raising property tax levies by 4.5% the largest increase in a decade.

In seven of Wisconsin’s 10 largest cities, there were fewer police officers per capita in 2018 than a decade earlier, even as their police spending levels and violent crime rates both increased.

The Madison metro area has led Wisconsin’s three largest metro areas in job growth since the Great Recession, aided by robust growth in math and computer occupations.

A decade after the Great Recession slammed the brakes on the U.S. economy, employment in Wisconsin has recovered and surged almost 72,000 jobs higher than its pre-recession peak.

For the first time, federal law now requires states and school districts to report per-pupil spending down to the level of each individual school.

Compared to other states, Wisconsin’s greater reliance on a few taxes means those taxes here rank relatively high compared to other states.