State of the Madison Region: 2009-2010 Report

The State of the Madison Region report is a benchmarking tool for the eight-county Madison, Wisconsin Region, to be used for long-term planning across the public and private sectors within the region. Our continued goal with the report is to foster regional dialogue on our shared future.

This is the second annual report that was originally developed from the work of the Thrive Quality of Life Committee work to bring traditional economic indicators together with quality of life indicators to both monitor our region's performance and motivate action.

Our measures span the economic and quality of life continuum by tracking thirty important indicators at work, home, school, community, transportation, and a healthy, active life.

In addition to reporting on the overall "health" of the Madison Region, metrics are included for five peer regions across the country, and when appropriate, for the state and the nation.

New features for this year include At a Glance, a quick look at trends and peer region rank; and a look at the most recently available 2008 and 2009 employment data. While that data shows that have a long way to go to real recovery there are some long-term positive trends indicating the eight county Madison Region might weather this recession better than elsewhere.

Leading up to 2008 we had seen significant growth in productivity, per capita personal income, and median household income. On the quality of life front compared to our peer regions, we had the highest home ownership rate, lowest poverty rate, lowest crime rates, and some of the highest health insurance rates.

This strong foundation should serve us well in 2010 and beyond.