Fact: 

Wisconsin trails the national average in the number of high-paying jobs and the salaries they yield. 
According to research conducted by UW-Madison Professor Don Nichols for Competitive Wisconsin, Inc., Wisconsin residents in the most highly paid occupations earn less than their national counterparts ($81,432 national average vs. $71,732 in Wisconsin).  Furthermore, Wisconsin employs less than its share of people in those highly paid occupations. (On average 10 percent of the workforce nationwide is employed in the most highly paid occupations compared to 7.44% of Wisconsin’s workforce, an employment gap of 65,000)  If Wisconsin had 65,000 more people working in these highly paid occupations at the national average of $81,432, Wisconsin’s overall income would have been $6.3 billion higher in 2002
(La Follette School Working Paper Series. December 2006. No. 2007-003).

FACT:

Wisconsin’s per capita income is 3.6% below the national average, the state’s worst showing since 2001.  
Incomes in Wisconsin ($33,251) trailed those in Minnesota ($37,322) and Illinois ($36,264) (2007 Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance Benchmarks).  According to the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Wisconsin’s per capita income (PCI) trails the national average by $1,193.  If Wisconsin’s PCI goes up to the national average, it will generate an additional $6.63 billion in income and $397 million in additional taxes.  Consequently, if we raise Wisconsin’s PCI to the level of Illinois (an additional $2,986) or Minnesota (an additional $4,071) it would generate an additional $16.6 billion ($996 million in new taxes) or $22.3 billion ($1.32 billion in new taxes) annually.

FACT:

Wisconsin’s share of total US farm income in 2005 fell to 2.2% from 2.7% in 2003. 
Farm income in Wisconsin dropped 10.1% in 2005 (2007 Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance Benchmarks).