By the numbers
Wisconsin’s tourism industry, which just had a record-setting year, is a major source of jobs, though its impact varies from one community to the next.
Tourism generated over $25 billion in economic activity and supported 178,000 jobs statewide in 2023, according to figures collected by The Wisconsin Department of Tourism. The industry is credited by the agency as resulting in more than $1.6 billion in state and local tax revenue.
For the purposes of the department’s figures, a tourist includes anyone who traveled more than 50 miles or stayed overnight at a destination.
Eleven counties in the state derive more than 10% of their total employment from tourism. In Adams County, more than 35% of jobs are supported by tourism, and in Sauk County, more than 32%.
In sheer volume, Milwaukee County leads, with $4.2 billion in economic activity credited to tourism in 2023. Dane County, the next largest in the state, brought in $2.6 billion, an increase of more than 8% over 2022.
Growth in tourist activity surged by more than 10% in Green Lake and Menominee counties, and by more than 11% in Monroe County.
The report on 2023 tourism in Wisconsin is available here. A summary of statistics is available on the Travel Wisconsin site.
The underlying numbers
Below in table form is the percentage of jobs supported by tourism by county.
(Calculated as tourism-supported jobs divided by total county employment according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
| County | Percent |
| Adams County | 35.35% |
| Ashland County | 6.97% |
| Barron County | 6.28% |
| Bayfield County | 16.27% |
| Brown County | 6.84% |
| Buffalo County | 5.97% |
| Burnett County | 7.38% |
| Calumet County | 3.77% |
| Chippewa County | 5.30% |
| Clark County | 3.11% |
| Columbia County | 7.63% |
| Crawford County | 9.83% |
| Dane County | 5.29% |
| Dodge County | 3.81% |
| Door County | 22.94% |
| Douglas County | 8.19% |
| Dunn County | 4.39% |
| Eau Claire County | 6.69% |
| Florence County | 9.16% |
| Fond du Lac County | 5.11% |
| Forest County | 5.94% |
| Grant County | 5.71% |
| Green County | 4.33% |
| Green Lake County | 10.09% |
| Iowa County | 4.05% |
| Iron County | 14.89% |
| Jackson County | 6.04% |
| Jefferson County | 4.61% |
| Juneau County | 7.49% |
| Kenosha County | 4.28% |
| Kewaunee County | 6.01% |
| La Crosse County | 5.66% |
| Lafayette County | 4.15% |
| Langlade County | 5.76% |
| Lincoln County | 6.45% |
| Manitowoc County | 5.18% |
| Marathon County | 5.12% |
| Marinette County | 8.25% |
| Marquette County | 7.53% |
| Menominee County | 2.07% |
| Milwaukee County | 5.80% |
| Monroe County | 5.08% |
| Oconto County | 8.49% |
| Oneida County | 12.95% |
| Outagamie County | 5.26% |
| Ozaukee County | 4.75% |
| Pepin County | 4.83% |
| Pierce County | 3.99% |
| Polk County | 6.73% |
| Portage County | 5.84% |
| Price County | 5.34% |
| Racine County | 4.82% |
| Richland County | 5.72% |
| Rock County | 5.40% |
| Rusk County | 8.13% |
| Sauk County | 32.51% |
| Sawyer County | 13.03% |
| Shawano County | 6.55% |
| Sheboygan County | 5.52% |
| St. Croix County | 5.20% |
| Taylor County | 4.16% |
| Trempealeau County | 3.36% |
| Vernon County | 5.72% |
| Vilas County | 24.88% |
| Walworth County | 16.24% |
| Washburn County | 8.87% |
| Washington County | 3.88% |
| Waukesha County | 5.08% |
| Waupaca County | 6.11% |
| Waushara County | 13.73% |
| Winnebago County | 4.65% |
| Wood County | 5.77% |
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