OEA - Western Workforce Development Area (WDA)

Buffalo, Crawford, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Trempealeau, and Vernon Counties

Contact the regional analyst: Bill Brockmiller

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Data Dashboard contains statewide and regional analyses on current issues coupled with easy to use data tools, all at your fingertips.

Regional profile (PDF, 130KB) contains detailed labor market information for an entire region. Revised May 2005.

County Profiles contains detailed labor market information for individual counties within the entire state.

Regional Projections

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About the Western WDA

The Western region is composed of 8 counties; Buffalo, Crawford, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Trempealeau, and Vernon. Together, La Crosse and Monroe Counties are a dominant force in the region accounting for 53 percent of the region's population, 54 percent of the region's labor force, and 63 percent of the nonfarm jobs. Nine of the ten largest municipalities in the area are located in La Crosse or Monroe County. Two major health care systems are centered in La Crosse County, and a veteran's hospital is located in Monroe County, creating one of the strongest areas for health care employment in Wisconsin. Manufacturing is the backbone of several of the outlying counties, such as Juneau and Trempealeau. Buffalo and Vernon Counties are two of only four Wisconsin Counties where 40 percent or more of total county employment is directly related to farming or farm related products.

According to Census 2000, the population of the region was 277,548, an increase of 9.6 percent since the 1990 Census. The size of the region's labor force was just under 150,000 with more than 143,000 of those persons employed. The region?s annual average unemployment rate was four percent in 2000. Also as of 2000, there were 136,900 nonfarm jobs in the region, an increase of 29.5 percent since 1990. As of 2000, the average annual pay in the region was $25,520, which was 83 percent of the state average.

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Federal Job Vacancy Survey

National award given to the U.S. Department of Labor's Job Vacancy Survey (JVS) committee. Bill Brockmiller, Southwestern Wisconsin Labor market analyst is a committee member. Western Wisconsin Workforce Development Board was a pilot member. The committee's accomplishments included gathering best practices from each of the pilot states; designing a survey instrument; designing templates for analysis of results. These templates can be used by anyone interested in the process. The committee set up training sessions to teach how to conduct one's own JVS survey. Read more information about the federal Job Vacancy Survey.

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The linked PDF files require the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have the most current version, you can download Acrobat Reader from the Adobe website at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

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Updated: September 05, 2008
Office of Economic Advisors