WalletHub Study Ranks Wisconsin 40th in the Nation for Economy, Last in Economic Activity

WalletHub recently published a ranking of the best and worst economies among the U.S. states, and unfortunately, Wisconsin did not perform well. Out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Wisconsin ranked 40 out of 51 for its overall economy.

The rankings were based on three main factors: Economic Activity, Economic Health, and Innovation Potential. In terms of Economic Activity, Wisconsin ranked last, with poor performance in areas such as GDP growth, fast-growing firms, startup activity, and exports per capita. On the other hand, Economic Health took into account factors such as unemployment rate and median annual household income adjusted for cost of living. However, even in this category, Wisconsin only ranked 31st.

The Innovation Potential factor considered a state’s share of jobs in high-tech industries, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics employment. Although Wisconsin had a better showing here than in other categories with a higher ranking for innovation potential (21st), it was still not enough to offset the poor performance in other areas. Overall, Wisconsin’s economic performance was rated poorly compared to other states in the study. The report was published on June 3rd., 2024