Wisconsin Real Estate Markets
Tight labor market, fast permit pace, expensive entry. P/I 3.08, cap rate proxy 4.0%, median home $252,319. 3.6% unemployment is the cohort's lowest and 14-day eviction is the fastest — but the 7.65% top income tax is the highest in the Midwest.
Investor Profile
Price-to-Income
3.1
Census ACS
Rent-to-Income
19.4%
HUD + ACS
Cap Rate Proxy
4.0%
HUD + ACS
Net Migration
-0.01%
IRS SOI
Permits / 1K
4.3
Census BPS
Unemployment
3.6%
BLS
Demographics & Income
Median HHI
$76,621
Census ACS
Vacancy Rate
9.4%
Census ACS
Rent-Burdened
39.3%
% of renters paying 30%+ of income toward rent
Census ACS
Investor Climate
Rent control
1031 exchange
Deposit cap
Explore 16 metros across Wisconsin
Wisconsin
16 metros · 72 counties
Hover any county to see its metroTap any county to see its metro
Census ACS · FHFA · BLS · HUD · IRS15 metros in Wisconsin. Click to view full market hub.
| # | Metro | Population | HPI 5yr Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Green Bay, WI | 0.3M | 65.9% |
| 2 | Sheboygan, WI | 0.1M | 65.9% |
| 3 | Oshkosh-Neenah, WI | 0.2M | 63.8% |
| 4 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.1M | 63.7% |
| 5 | Appleton, WI | 0.2M | 60.8% |
| 6 | Janesville-Beloit, WI | 0.2M | 59.8% |
| 7 | Racine, WI | 0.2M | 58.0% |
| 8 | Wausau-Weston, WI | 0.2M | 56.7% |
| 9 | Duluth, MN-WI | 0.3M | 56.4% |
| 10 | Eau Claire, WI | 0.2M | 55.7% |
Where Wisconsin sits on the distress curve
Composite index built from federal GSE loan data covering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac single-family loans. Weighted 40% serious delinquency, 20% entrenched stress, 20% forbearance share, 20% REO inventory. Useful for spotting markets where distressed inventory is building before price effects show up. Read the full methodology →
Source: FHFA Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report · 2025Q4
See all 51 states rankedWisconsin is where the Midwest's best operating environment meets the cohort's tightest cash-flow math. Price-to-income 3.08 is the highest among Midwest peers; cap rate proxy 4.0% is the lowest. Median home $252,319, across 5,892,023 residents and 15 metros. The appeal isn't the spreadsheet entry price — it's what comes after close: 3.6% unemployment, 14-day eviction timeline, 4.3 permits per 1,000 residents driving inventory.
The FHFA HPI is up 57.3% over five years and 5.9% last year — the strongest 5-year Midwest run. Builders pulled 25,348 permits TTM — the fastest pace in the cohort. Net migration is −0.01% of population — essentially flat. Median household income sits at $76,621.
The 16 metros sort into three tiers. Madison ($345K median, P/I 3.97) is the appreciation anchor — UW-Madison, biotech, state capital, the tightest market in the state. Milwaukee-Waukesha ($284K, 3.7% cap) is the largest metro — manufacturing, brewing legacy, diversified service economy. Green Bay ($239K), Appleton ($246K), Eau Claire ($241K), and La Crosse-Onalaska ($235K) are the strong secondary tier. Wausau-Weston ($206K), Oshkosh-Neenah ($209K), Fond du Lac ($210K), and Janesville-Beloit ($216K) are the cheaper cluster — still P/I above 2.7 but below the coastal tier.
Against Ohio and Indiana, Wisconsin loses on cap rate math and income tax decisively. It wins on operating environment: faster evictions, tighter labor market, stronger HPI trajectory, no rent control. Against Michigan, Wisconsin wins on unemployment and permit pace; loses on entry price. Against Illinois, Wisconsin wins on migration trend and permits; ties on property tax (both high).
Operating environment is the Midwest's most landlord-friendly: 14-day eviction timeline (the fastest in the cohort), no rent control, no deposit cap, 67.9% homeownership, 9.4% vacancy. Insurance averages $1,065/yr. 7.65% top state income tax — highest in the Midwest cohort and the biggest single drag on net cash flow.
So what does an investor do?
- Cash flow: This isn't Wisconsin's strongest thesis. Wausau-Weston, Oshkosh-Neenah, Fond du Lac offer the cheapest entry points but cap rate proxies still sit below 4.5%. Model the 7.65% income tax explicitly — it's the drag that pushes otherwise-workable deals into red territory.
- Appreciation: Madison is the play. P/I is tight but UW-Madison and biotech drive the most defensible forward-demand thesis in the state. Milwaukee's manufacturing revitalization and the Fox Valley metros (Appleton, Green Bay) are the secondary picks.
- Out-of-state: Wisconsin rewards operators who value the back-office math — fastest evictions in the region, no rent control, a 2.9% unemployment labor market that keeps tenants paying. If your thesis is "buy good stock in a well-run state and hold," it delivers. If you're cap-rate-first, look at Michigan or the Ohio secondary metros instead.
Cap rate measures a property's annual net operating income as a percentage of its purchase price or current market value, assuming an all-cash purchase.
Read definition →Price-to-income ratio is median-home-price divided by median-household-income—a measure of housing affordability.
Read definition →Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD's annual estimate of what a household must pay for gross rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — on a privately-owned, decent, safe unit in a specific market area. FMRs are published each fall at huduser.gov and set the ceiling for Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher payment calculations.
Read definition →A building permit is a government authorization to construct a new residential or commercial structure, and the monthly count of permits issued across the U.S. functions as a leading economic indicator that signals where housing supply is heading months before any new unit is completed.
Read definition →The percentage of time a rental property sits empty and produces no income, calculated as vacant units divided by total units — the silent profit killer in rental investing.
Read definition →Homeownership rate is the percentage of occupied housing units whose residents own — rather than rent — the property. It measures the split between owner-occupants and renters in a given geography.
Read definition →