Michigan vs Wisconsin: two economies side by side

Michigan and Wisconsin share a border. Here are the two economies on the same measures, with the rank of each among 51 states and DC.

Great LakesMichigan leads on 4, Wisconsin on 7 of 11 measures

Indicator	A · MI	B · WI	Ranks
GDP, 2025	$733.9B	$478.8B	14 · 21
Real GDP growth, 2025	+2.2%	+0.82%	20 · 45
Real growth a year since 2015	+1.6%	+1.4%	32 · 35
GDP per person	$72,462	$80,160	40 · 29
Income per person, 2025	$67,245	$71,219	39 · 29
Real income per person (2017 $)	$53,569	$58,273	41 · 26
Price level (US = 100)	96.2	94.1	28 · 32
Housing costs (US = 100)	82.3	79.3	29 · 32
Unemployment, September 2026	5.0%	3.2%	47 · 10
Population	10,127,884	5,972,787	10 · 21
Population growth a year since 2020	+0.11%	+0.25%	41 · 37

Highlighted: the higher value, or the lower one for prices and unemployment. BEA (GDP, income, price parities), BLS (unemployment).

Fig. 1Real GDP, index 2015 = 100Chained 2017 dollars

MichiganWisconsin

Fig. 2Unemployment rateMonthly, seasonally adjusted, since 2015

MichiganWisconsin

Industry mix, 2025

Share of each state’s GDP. Sorted by the gap between the two.

Industry	MI	WI	Gap, pp	Larger in
Finance & insurance	5.8%	9.6%	3.8	WI
Professional services	7.9%	5.0%	2.9	MI
Real estate	13.7%	11.9%	1.8	MI
Wholesale trade	7.6%	6.1%	1.5	MI
Information	2.8%	4.1%	1.3	WI
Retail trade	6.7%	5.9%	0.8	MI
Manufacturing	15.4%	16.1%	0.7	WI
Administrative & waste services	3.0%	2.4%	0.6	MI
Management of companies	1.8%	2.4%	0.6	WI
Agriculture	0.8%	1.4%	0.6	WI
Construction	4.2%	4.6%	0.4	WI
Utilities	1.9%	1.5%	0.4	MI
Education	0.7%	1.1%	0.3	WI
Health care	8.4%	8.7%	0.3	WI
Transportation & warehousing	2.9%	3.0%	0.1	WI
Other services	2.4%	2.3%	0.1	MI
Arts & recreation	0.9%	0.9%	0.0
Accommodation & food	2.9%	2.9%	0.0
Mining, oil & gas	0.2%	0.2%	0.0
Government	10.0%	10.0%	0.0