State Statistics  

The statewide poverty rate has remained well above 12% since 2009. Two recessions and persistently high unemployment have increased economic hardship in Wisconsin.

 

The poverty threshold is ~ $23,050 for a family of four and $11,170 for one person. Households are considered poor if their pre-tax income is below this amount. The estimated poverty rate during  2008-2012 was 8.6%, an increase from 2000 when the county poverty rate was 7.3%.

 

Poverty is now more common among children than working-age adults (ages 18-64) or seniors. In Wisconsin, children, female-headed households, racial and ethnic minorities, and adults over 25 with only a high school education or less are most likely to live in poverty.

 

Limited earning potential, including the inability to find sufficient work at an adequate wage, is strongly linked to poverty in Wisconsin. Although Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has decreased in recent years, it remains high at 6.7% statewide. Unemployment rose significantly between 2008 and 2009, and is still substantially above pre-recession rates. In Iowa County, the 2013 unemployment rate was 6.2%.

 

Employment is not always enough to escape poverty. In 2012, 28.4% of all workers in Wisconsin and 19.5% of full-time workers earned “poverty wages” or lower wages than are needed to keep a family of four with one full-time worker above the federal poverty line. In 2012, poverty wages for a family of four were $11.19 per hour or less.