Wisconsin Residents In Poverty!!! (Milwaukee, Madison: crime, homes, neighborhood)

[B'Goshboy]

Originally Posted by Bigfamilyof6

I saw this on the News the other day and wanted to share it with fellow wisconsinites as well as anyone moving here.

The U.S. Census Bureau did a study and found that 1 out of every 4 Wisconsin Residents is living below Poverty Level.

The U.S. Census Bureau also reported that literally half of Wisconsin population is in Poverty.


To me, this was no big suprise. To give you an idea, we came from Colorado we bought a house for $105,000 and our standard monthly payment was under $800/month. We came to Wisconsin bought a smaller house for $79,000 and our current monthly mortgage is $823.04 only because we raised our insurance deductibles to make our monthly payment managable. Okay this is not the only problem. My husband literally makes 3x the amount now as he did in Colorado yet we struggle to pay for our basic needs. We have no expensive cars, no big house, we live as simpily as you can. But yet we struggle. The PROPERTY TAXES ARE INSANE HERE!

I urge you if you are considering moving to Wisconsin really crunch your numbers as far as how much you are paid out here and how much it costs to live including the property tax. We have less than 1200 sq feet of a house 3 small bdrms 1 bath and about 1/2 a lot that our homes sits on and we pay $1800/year in property tax. Please do your homework before you make a move.

Well, if half of the Wisconsin poulation is in poverty, just think what South Carolina is!!

According to the US Census Bureau the 2203 median income for WI was $54,500, rank of 18; and SC was $47,081, rank of 38; and NC was $45,540, rank 42. Oh, by the way, there are only 50 states!

[Birdie]

Another thing about Wisconsin is they have plenty of jobs!! If people are living in poverty its because they choose to. (i know there are certain situations where people can't)

(just my two cents worth)

[AVG2319]

I don't usually post but i feel compelled to. I grew up in Wisconsin and spent most of life hoping to get out of that state, but after living in 3 other states i do appreciate things i took for granted in WI. When choosing a place to live taxes should not be the only consideration. As far as poverty many states have tons of people living in poverty. We live in CO right now they said on the news that 70% of the kids here are on the free lunch program. Poverty is everywhere. By all means if you are not happy somewhere you should do something about it. And not bashing anyone, but I don't know where in CO you can get a home for $105,000. CO is not cheap to live in either -try closer in the mid 200 range for a house and not a fancy one. At least if you want to live near Denver or Springs. Taxes here over $2000 a year. And although I doubt i will move back to WI. too humid, and too many bugs for me. i do see the difference in living where you pay cheaper taxes as opposed to a higher tax rate. There is a difference in ,schools,state festivals,museums,libraries,roads,decent paying jobs,and overall quality of life etc
So if considering WI to live investigate more. To some extent where you live and how happy you are is what you make of it.
Colorado has mountains, Dry Sunny weather and little bugs. But it is not that green compared to WI, doesn't have the same feel to it. I love Colorado, but WI will always be home to me.
Anyway that is my two cents. Hope this helps if someone is considering moving. Taxes,weather,people,etc is all relative to who is the one experiencing it. Always visit (if possible during different seasons) a place you are going to move to before doing so. Each person's perception is different from the next.

[WIer]

Generally states balance out once you add in sales tax (WI is several percentage points lower than its adjacent states), state income tax, and other taxes and fees. True, WI has high property taxes, but its sales tax, for example, is less than in surrounding states, it doesn't tax food (IL does tax food 1% now), and so on.

By the way, I'd appreciate the full citation for your quote. Without the full citation, who knows if what you're saying is true or not. I do have to question it so again, would appreciate a direct, full citation on your source.

Also please explain how 1 in 4 can be in poverty but 1 in 2 (the "half" you mention) are in poverty. Isn't that the same thing?

Originally Posted by Bigfamilyof6

I saw this on the News the other day and wanted to share it with fellow wisconsinites as well as anyone moving here.

The U.S. Census Bureau did a study and found that 1 out of every 4 Wisconsin Residents is living below Poverty Level.

The U.S. Census Bureau also reported that literally half of Wisconsin population is in Poverty.


To me, this was no big suprise. To give you an idea, we came from Colorado we bought a house for $105,000 and our standard monthly payment was under $800/month. We came to Wisconsin bought a smaller house for $79,000 and our current monthly mortgage is $823.04 only because we raised our insurance deductibles to make our monthly payment managable. Okay this is not the only problem. My husband literally makes 3x the amount now as he did in Colorado yet we struggle to pay for our basic needs. We have no expensive cars, no big house, we live as simpily as you can. But yet we struggle. The PROPERTY TAXES ARE INSANE HERE!

I urge you if you are considering moving to Wisconsin really crunch your numbers as far as how much you are paid out here and how much it costs to live including the property tax. We have less than 1200 sq feet of a house 3 small bdrms 1 bath and about 1/2 a lot that our homes sits on and we pay $1800/year in property tax. Please do your homework before you make a move.

[azloafer]

Originally Posted by sillygal

I am a wisconsite thinking of moving to CO......can u help me out with comparisons? Besides the obvious? mtns vs lake. I have heard that the winters are pretty similar.......but CO is more mild and dry......What do u guys think?

Stay where you are! wisconsin is NOT as nice as Colorado. I grew up in Wisconsin and raised a family there. It is nice BUT it is no Colorado!

[mrkool]

1. I lived in Colorado in the 90s. Did you? I saw no indication that public services were adversely impacted byTABOR. The tax and spend crowd is trying desperately to find fault with TABOR because they don't want the whole tax limits thing to become popular and spread to other areas/states.

2. High taxes and high spending on schools does not necessarily equate to good school performance, high test scores, etc. If that was the case, very high tax and spend places like Calif, NYC, New Jersey, etc., would have great schools. Check it out.. they don't.

3. You say the $2200 higher taxe liability in Wisconsin compared to Colorado is not significant. Wow.. I wish I was making so much money that $2200 was not significant.

4. Good roads? That's a relative statement. Here they're worse than any other state I've lived in, though admittedly the climate here is much to blame (freeze/thaw cycles). Lots of cracks and potholes, and once a year or so at least one of our cars has a tire problem (bulges and such) from these roads.

5. As I stated in a previous post, Wisconsin definitely has some good points. If I disliked it I wouldn't still be here. But to promote the myth that high taxes and spending is a good thing, and brings good results, is not useful or accurate.

[montyc]

Well lets see....being that Milwaukee (cough cough) is roughly 1/4 the population of Wisconsin as a whole, it makes perfect sense that the MAJORITY of what they are talking about are the people in Milwaukee, whose poverty level is WAY more than Madison, Green Bay or La Crosse PUT TOGETHER. So yes explained like I did, Wisconsin DOES have 1 in 4 in poverty.....ok?

Monty

.......and we all know why the majority of Milwaukee is in poverty

[ihatefonddulac]

We just moved back to MN after living one year in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. I agree totally with the original post. It is very expensive to live in WI. We lived in a house we paid over $4,000 a year for property taxes, and it was an old house built in 1915. We lived for 2 years before that in SC, and we built a 5 bedroom, 3 bath house on a lake with property taxes of less than $2,000 a year! Our city water bill was $200 every 3 months. Food was double that of SC and MN. My husband was making more money than he ever has anywhere else plus a bonus and we were struggling to get by on it.

I'm glad to be back home in MN!

[patntrisha]

Hi- i grew up in kenosha and moved to milwaukee when i was 20. i bought a $114,000 house then moved to WV 4 years ago. i couldn't believe the difference. my property taxes on a .50 acre, 2200 sq. ft. house was 900 dollars...NOT KIDDING!!! AND i only paid $137,00 for the new-built home!! it was like we won the lottery or something!!! we moved because of my husband's job and now are expecting to be moved back to WI. we really want to but now don't think we will be able to afford it. we're looking in the lomira area and taxes are 3500 for a .25 acre? that's so ridiculous i can't even take it. should we sacrifice easy living for a really small house and insane taxes??

[lauramarie8]

Pretty soon there will be one big divide.......There will be the poor and the rich. The country is headed that way no matter where you live. The middle class is no more.