According to a recent Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance report, Madison families make on average nearly $30,000 more than Milwaukee families per year.
Madison families averaged $64,264 per year in contrast to the $35,765 average Milwaukee families made, according to the report. One reason Madison is doing better economically is Dane County has seen a 126 percent increase in the number of jobs overall from 1970 to 2000, compared to a mere 18 percent increase in Milwaukee County.
However, the sharp difference needs to be taken with a grain of salt, said UW-Madison economics professor Stephen Malpezzi. He advised looking at the other factors in the report, noting it involves family composition and discards single homes, which include students.
""It's a little complicated,"" Malpezzi said. ""The numbers are misleading if you don't think about all the things going on at once.""
Malpezzi also said the average income per capita, which takes into account all residents, skews the report because the numbers translate into Madison residents making a little more than $37,000 a year and Milwaukee residents $32,000.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's spokesperson, George Twigg, said Madison is doing well but ""if Madison wants to continue to be prosperous, we can't rest on our laurels."" Twigg said there are things the city needs to do in order to keep progressing and building towards the future.
He also pointed to UW-Madison playing a large and positive role in shaping the economy of Madison.
""Madison is fortunate to have a few built-in advantages ... UW-Madison being one,"" Twigg said.
Still, according to Twigg, Madison has areas that need to be addressed, such as the lack of factory jobs, which is a stronghold in Milwaukee.
