Wisconsin Health Care Jobs Top Manufacturing 463,000 to 460,000 as Aging Population Reshapes Workforce
Updated
Updated · Fox11online.com · Jul 8
Wisconsin Health Care Jobs Top Manufacturing 463,000 to 460,000 as Aging Population Reshapes Workforce
3 articles · Updated · Fox11online.com · Jul 8
Summary
463,000 Wisconsin jobs now sit in health care and social assistance, edging past manufacturing at 460,000 in preliminary 2025 data from Forward Analytics.
Between 2001 and 2025, manufacturing employment fell from 560,000 while health care rose from 321,000, a shift tied to an aging population and difficulty finding skilled factory workers.
$74 billion in manufacturing GDP still exceeds health care and social services at $42 billion, and business leaders said factory jobs retain a broader multiplier effect across the state economy.
9,000 more manufacturing workers than health care remain in the Fox Cities, showing the statewide crossover has not displaced manufacturing's dominance in some regional labor markets.