Wisconsin Housing Impact Study Reveals Housing as a Wise Investment

Residential construction generates income and jobs, as well as revenue for state and local governments

Madison, WI (May 31, 2018) – Recently, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) published its 2018 Wisconsin Housing Impact Study, examining the effect of residential construction activity on the state’s economy. The news is good: residential construction in Wisconsin generates income and jobs for state residents, as well as substantial revenue for state and local governments.

Specifically, for every 1,000 single-family homes built in Wisconsin, NAHB estimated the one-year economic impact at $298.8 million in income for residents, $56.3 million in taxes and other revenue for state and local governments, and 4,451 additional jobs. The annually recurring impacts of 1,000 homes would include $52 million in income for residents, $20.4 million in taxes and other revenue for state and local governments, and 1,014 additional jobs.

The study additionally compared costs to revenue, finding that after 15 years, 1,000 single-family homes in Wisconsin would generate a cumulative $351.7 million in revenue compared to $223.3 million in costs, including annual current expenses, capital investment, and interest on debt.

“The Impact Study makes it clear that new housing options for Wisconsin families provide good-paying jobs and additional tax revenues for state and local units of government,” said WBA Executive Director Brad Boycks. “WBA members look forward to working with any community in Wisconsin to provide more housing options, more good-paying jobs, and additional tax revenues for our communities.”

The NAHB study’s predictive model was first developed in 1996, and has been used since then to successfully estimate the impact of construction in over 800 projects, local jurisdictions, metropolitan areas, non-metropolitan counties, and states across the country.  The full report, including a look at the impact of homebuilding in Madison and Milwaukee specifically, is available at wisbuild.org/housing-impact-studies.

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