[Misty108]

How would you describe the differences (socially and culturally)?

[ram2]

Wisconsin has a real NFL team.

[DTWflyer]

I have never lived in Wisconsin so I don't have a good, deep perspective on that state versus Michigan but I've spent a decent amount of time at least in the Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton, Green Bay areas.

Similarities:
- Midwestern, blue collar attitude
- Embrace winter, although everyone gets tired of it to a varying extent; Wisconsin gets more cold, Northern Michigan gets more snow thanks to the lake-effect snow influence
- Ann Arbor & Madison have many similarities; although Madison in addition to the influence of UofW also the state capital in the same metro area.
- Natural friendly but reserved Midwestern attitude. Neither state is very transient. People in both state tend to have deep roots, growing up there, with established family and friends they grew-up with. Not a lot of out-of-state transplants. This tends to be true of many Midwestern states.
- Similar immigration patterns and historical ancestral roots up until WWII. Exception being the number of southerners who moved to Detroit for auto industry jobs, and now in more recent decades all the middle eastern immigrants to Metro Detroit
- Traditional, leaning to the right, conservative midwestern vibe outside of the big city metros


Differences:
- The influence of the automotive industry looms large over SE Michigan and it extends to the broader pockets of wealth throughout the state. The blue blood money from yesteryear, the good union/UAW wages, the good paying engineering / white collar jobs pumps a lot of money in the state, promotes higher than average incomes, and then throut tourism & cottages/second homes pumps money into Northern Michigan. Wisconsin doesn't necessarily have that from a home-grown industry. There is a lot of Chicago-money that pumps into the northern regions of Wisconsin
- Wisconsin rallies around their good NFL team, Michigan loves to hate our terrible NFL team but we still watch anyways
- Detroit is a much bigger city, and a bigger national/international scale than Wisconsin's largest city, Millewaukee. WI's biggest city sits in the shadow of Chicago. Parts of western WI tend to also be bedroom communities and feel a part of Minneapolis.

[Bondurant]

Milwaukee has a Crusher statue. I would like to see a Sheik or Bobo Brazil statue in Detroit. That would be amazing.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by Misty108

How would you describe the differences (socially and culturally)?

Any "differences" are conjured by people from either state who feel the need to brag that they have it better. They're basically the same place with a really big lake in the middle.

[FrozenI69]

Wisconsin has a very annoying accent. Michigan is standard Midwestern, with a bit of Canadian mixed in when you are close to the border in more rural areas.
Wisconsin is significantly smaller when it comes to land and water area.
Michigan has a much larger population and is more connected to Europe and Asia due to the DTW hub.
Both have state colleges that are good for engineering.
Michigan has more auto industry jobs than Wisconsin.
Wisconsin has a NFL team with lots of titles.
Michigan has more plug in cars than Wisconsin.
Wisconsin has better cheddar Cheese. Michigan has better beer. But I always mix them together and make beer cheese dip.

[Bert_from_back_East]

Despite their geographical distance from New England, both Michigan and Wisconsin appear to have a remarkable amount of New England charm, especially in their small towns and rural areas. Overall, roads in Michigan appear to be in better condition than roads in Wisconsin, which is likely due to the prominence of the automotive industry and related lobbies in Michigan. While Wisconsin has some lovely lakeside scenery, Michigan is second to none in this category due to its much more expansive shoreline. That said, the rolling hills of western Wisconsin are very charming and bucolic. To my delight, the countryside of Wisconsin, which appears to be hillier than the countryside of Michigan, is reminiscent of New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. In addition to its exceptionally long and very beautiful shoreline, I think Michigan is superior to Wisconsin due to its location at the end of the Eastern Time Zone, which results in very late sunsets, especially during the spring and summer seasons.

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

Despite their geographical distance from New England, both Michigan and Wisconsin appear to have a remarkable amount of New England charm, especially in their small towns and rural areas. Overall, roads in Michigan appear to be in better condition than roads in Wisconsin, which is likely due to the prominence of the automotive industry and related lobbies in Michigan. While Wisconsin has some lovely lakeside scenery, Michigan is second to none in this category due to its much more expansive shoreline. That said, the rolling hills of western Wisconsin are very charming and bucolic. To my delight, the countryside of Wisconsin, which appears to be hillier than the countryside of Michigan, is reminiscent of New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. In addition to its exceptionally long and very beautiful shoreline, I think Michigan is superior to Wisconsin due to its location at the end of the Eastern Time Zone, which results in very late sunsets, especially during the spring and summer seasons.

Have you been in Michigan lately?

[Kieran Keating]

Similarities:

Both very blue collar, lean Democrat but have voted for Republicans, are rust-belt states (had economies almost completely made up of manufacturing jobs), have similar scenery (rolling hills, forests, with many lakes), similar temperatures, similar cuisine, and are almost the same geographical size too.

Differences:
-Michigan is much larger by population, by about 4 million.
-Michigan is more culturally diverse, with a larger Black and Asian population.
-The cities: Wisconsin is known for having some of the nicer cities in the Midwest; Milwaukee, though traditionally rust-belt, is up-and-coming and improving, Madison has always been nice, kind of a hipster haven, and the smaller cities such as Kenosha, Appleton, Lax, and Green Bay have always done well economically and are very livable. Michigan's cities are not only some of the worst in the Midwest but also the worst in the country. Detroit, Flint, Lansing, Saginaw, Pontiac, and Muskegon are bastions for crime and deep poverty. Ann Arbor is very nice though, but it's more of a college town than city.
-Wisconsin has a slightly higher COL than Michigan overall.
-Michigan does have significantly more expensive car insurance than Wisconsin though.
-Michigan generally has more landmarks than Wisconsin, in terms of historical sites, lakes, beaches, trails, and state parks, as well as a much stronger tourism industry.
-The accents are different. Michigan has a standard Midwest accent, while most of Wisconsin has more of a Canadian sounding twang, similar to Minnesota.
-Michigan has more universities than Wisconsin, especially more prestigious ones.
-The crime rate in Michigan is much higher than that of Wisconsin.
-Michigan's main drug problem is with heroin and crack, while in Wisconsin, it's meth.
-In Wisconsin, people are generally more friendly.
-Wisconsin's economy is generally better performing than Michigan.

I would say both States are pretty much equal; it's not like one is much better than the other. Both have their fair share of benefits and drawbacks.

[mgkeith]

My guess is that you are looking for opinions from people who have lived in either or preferably both states. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I've never even visited Wisconsin but I do have a cheese hat.