MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A report from the Wisconsin Budget Project and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy says the state is seeing a growing income gap between its top earners and the average worker.
Laura Dresser is the group's associate director. She tells Wisconsin Public Radio that the richest 1 percent in the state made more than $930,000 in 2014 while the average worker made less than $50,000.
Dresser says the state hasn't seen such levels of inequality since the Great Depression.
Eau Claire County had the highest inequality. More than 26 percent of the income in the county goes to the top 1 percent.
Wisconsin Budget Project analyst Tamarine Cornelius says the issue can be addressed by removing barriers to work, improving health care access, supporting workforce training and increasing the minimum wage.
