Wisconsin Becoming a Low-Wage Economy

By Jeanne Larson UW-Milwaukee Professor Marc Levine's October 2014 study for the Center for Economic Development, "Is Wisconsin Becoming a Low-Wage Economy? Employment Growth in Low, Middle, and High Wage Occupations: 2000-2013," uses Bureau of Labor Statistics data to illustrate a troubling long-term trend in Wisconsin: the number of low-wage jobs is growing much faster than middle- or high-wage occupations. Levine divided Wisconsin's 750 occupations into three tiers based on median wages, the midpoint where half the workers in the job are paid more, half are paid less: Low-wage           $12.50/hour or less Middle-wage     ...