The cities of Portage and Racine have been identified as the most miserable cities in Wisconsin for 2024 according to a report from Saturday Night Science.
Are you currently residing in one of the most unhappy locations in Wisconsin?
Only 33% of people in Wisconsin say they are truly happy. That’s unfortunate, especially considering that people in Wisconsin don’t have it too difficult compared to others.
However, we were wondering which cities in Wisconsin could be considered the most miserable. We are going to discover the answer by using Saturday Night Science and data.
After studying the 143 biggest cities, we unfortunately reveal the most unhappy cities in the Badger State. Continue reading below to find out how we analyzed the data and where your town was ranked. If you are happy, it is likely that you do not live in any of these cities.
Most Miserable Places In Wisconsin For 2024
Portage
Population: 10,351
Poverty Level: 12.3%
Median Home Price $151,000
Married Households 25.0%
Households With Kids 30.27%
Racine
Population: 77,705
Poverty Level: 19.8%
Median Home Price $125,600
Married Households 22.0%
Households With Kids 35.33%
Beaver Dam
Population: 16,594
Poverty Level: 6.4%
Median Home Price $147,400
Married Households 29.0%
Households With Kids 27.88%
Sturtevant
Population: 6,970
Poverty Level: 7.4%
Median Home Price $188,100
Married Households 24.0%
Households With Kids 35.31%
Watertown
Population: 23,030
Poverty Level: 8.7%
Median Home Price $162,700
Married Households 34.0%
Households With Kids 30.66%
Bristol
Population: 5,155
Poverty Level: 3.8%
Median Home Price $268,800
Married Households 23.0%
Households With Kids 26.5%
Milwaukee
Population: 578,198
Poverty Level: 24.1%
Median Home Price $135,600
Married Households 15.0%
Households With Kids 30.22%
Edgerton
Population: 5,825
Poverty Level: 10.0%
Median Home Price $172,700
Married Households 30.0%
Households With Kids 37.79%
Also read: Exploring South Dakota Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates For 2024
Method to Measure the Most Miserable Cities In Wisconsin
In order to determine the unhappiest places in Wisconsin, we needed to identify the factors that contribute to people’s happiness. It’s not hard to imagine that people who are happy tend to have high salaries, experience less stress, and have a stable home life.
We looked at the Census’s American Community Survey 2017-2021 report to find out about happiness. We used Saturday Night Science to rearrange the list, and it gave us the answer.
Just like magic. These are the factors we used to measure how miserable something is:
- Percentage of residents with a college degree
- Average commute times
- Unemployment rates
- Cost of living
- % of married couples
- % of families with kids
- Poverty rate
Once we determined the criteria, we collected data for the 143 locations in Wisconsin that have a population of over 5,000 people. We ranked each place from one to 143 for each of the seven criteria. A score of one means the place is the most miserable. If there was a tie, the larger place was given priority.
Afterwards, we calculated the average of the seven rankings to create a Miserable Index for each place. The place with the lowest overall Miserable Index was given the title “Most Miserable City In Wisconsin.”
If you want to see the full list of states ranked from most miserable to happiest, just scroll down to the bottom of this post to find the complete chart. We have revised this article for 2024, and this is our tenth time ranking the most unhappy cities in Wisconsin.
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