La Crosse, Milwaukee outliers in poverty level according to UW study

Poverty dropped under 10% in state, but is at 13% in La Crosse.

La Crosse County is among the outliers when it comes to poverty in Wisconsin.  

At least that’s according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Among all counties in Wisconsin, La Crosse and Milwaukee are the only ones to show a higher-than-state-average level of poverty for 2015 using the measure.

The study utilizes the relatively new Wisconsin Poverty Measure. 

It shows poverty dropping to 9.7 percent in 2015 – the lowest level of poverty measured in the state since at least the great recession.

Milwaukee is at 16 percent, while La Crosse County is at 13.

The study shows more than a 1-percent dip in poverty from 2014 to 2015 – the most recent year studied.  

Unlike the typical poverty measure, this one uses food stamps and health benefits, among others, to calculate how those things mitigate the effects of a lack of income.