The Housing Crisis: Wisconsin’s Long Commute

Across the country, the housing crisis isn’t just a real estate problem– it’s a public health problem, an economic problem, and a matter of justice. Dream.Org’s Housing For All campaign highlights how justice, climate, and the housing crisis are overlapping challenges. Our goal is to bring unlikely allies together to tackle the growing lack of affordability, accessibility, and opportunity. Wisconsin is the first of a four-part series covering housing struggles across four states: Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These are the untold stories from communities most affected by housing instability and those working tirelessly to build a world with affordable, safe housing for all.

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by Sara Stickney, Press Secretary

Growing up in the Sherman Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jarrett English has distinct memories of neighborhoods full of families and homeowners. But when he returned in the early 2000s, the community was a different place. Those same streets were littered with his neighbor’s personal possessions after being kicked out for not being able to afford their rent or from foreclosure. He isn’t a stranger to the realities of housing instability; Jarrett and his family experienced it themselves, and he is adamant no family should face those challenges. Yet today, with Wisconsin home prices as some of the most expensive in the country and over 12,000 people entering into homelessness in recent years, what should be an abnormality is now an unavoidable way of life. 

Wisconsin’s housing struggles are multifaceted, but significantly rooted in a housing shortage where supply isn’t meeting demand nor the needs of local residents. Over the past decade, median home prices have more than doubled in the state, outpacing the rise of income, and rent has jumped dramatically in many parts of Wisconsin, including a 30% increase in Superior and a 47% increase in Madison, over a span of four to five years. This has contributed to what is called a workforce housing crisis which boils down to a real shortage of truly affordable housing in areas where jobs are concentrated.

"Everyday residents who make around 60 to 120 percent of an area’s median income are forced to live far from where they work and make long commutes to where jobs are concentrated due to the lack of affordable homes."

In Wisconsin, this has been described as a “Housing Choice Crisis” where residents who can afford a home have “little choice regarding type, quality or location” and end up “settling for a neighborhood with poor public services or limited access to jobs.” In cities like Milwaukee, these issues are magnified further by predatory landlords, divestment of communities of color, historic racial segregation, and red lining.

This is partially due to the way development is incentivized in the state and the authority of municipalities to deny affordable and workforce housing development. Jarrett, one of Dream.Org’s Wisconsin Empathy Network leaders and a Milwaukee-based Community Focused-developer claims the current environment rewards “funders and developers [who] develop on the high end where the margins are much greater and they make their money back much quicker…as opposed to longer term, more affordable development often funded by Low Income Housing tax credits.” The incentivization of luxury housing has created about a 40% gap between new and existing home prices in Wisconsin, restricting home buying choices across the state. Tact on a housing shortage exacerbated by slow home development and low vacancy rates and home prices skyrocket, contributing to an affordability crisis and workforce housing shortage that affects everyone.

This impact is felt deeply within one of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable and invisible populations–people returning home from incarceration.

"In Milwaukee County, about 2,500 people are released from incarceration each year and about 40% of these individuals are reentering society without stable housing, little to no savings, limited work opportunities, and often a lack of community support."

For many who are released on parole, housing is often a requirement needed to meet their parole supervision criteria. Simply not having housing could put someone at risk for going back to prison.  When housing options are limited by federal guidelines, local policies, and the discretion of landlords who can put blanket bans on people with prior convictions, it increases the likelihood of reentering the system. If this “Housing Choice Crisis” affects the working class families who can afford a home, imagine the effects on those with these sort of barriers. This drastic lack of housing stability makes reentry success more difficult and can perpetuate repeated cycles of incarceration, when its proven stable housing lowers recidivism rates, improves mental and physical health, and can increase their chances in finding a job. 

Thankfully, Wisconsin’s government is not deaf to these rising issues. Housing affordability has been a major focus during Wisconsin’s 2026 session with the bipartisan bill, AB 132, which would designate funds from Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) programs to rural affordable housing projects, passing unanimously out of Assembly. In 2025, Governor Evers announced a $2.5 million affordable housing Loan Program that would add over 120 workforce housing units to Wisconsin neighborhoods. But Jarrett believes a more holistic, community-focused approach is what’s truly needed to address the root causes of the housing crisis.

Jarrett has been a part of numerous program and development projects with community organizations who use holistic approaches to increase housing accessibility, including Acts Housing, MetCalfe Park Community Bridges, and the Community Development Alliance.

"He (Jarrett) describes community-focused development as “putting people first,” speaking with the community about their wants and needs and building around those ideals."

His approach combines physical developments with social and economic investments like community centers or local businesses to build and preserve affordable housing and stronger communities.

But what does this look like in action? How is community-focused development more effective than a top-down approach controlled by government agencies or external authorities? A holistic approach enhances longevity, encourages greater community participation, and is more cost effective by tapping into local assets. 

Several programs across the state have implemented this approach. The Community Development Alliance (CDA) in Milwaukee is committed to advancing racial equity by providing quality affordable homes through several community-first projects, including the Milwaukee Homebuying Program helping to fill “3,000 vacant lots with new, affordable homes” for essential community members such as educators. Project Return, a Wisconsin organization dedicated to helping justice-impacted individuals return to their communities, also partnered just last month with Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center to offer housing for up to 12 recently incarcerated men and assist with helping them find permanent housing and employment. Successful projects like these give credit to the need for civic and private foundations to change their approach to better serve the community. 

The housing crisis does not affect one singular faction of Wisconsin’s community. From the worker forced to live an hour from their job, to the families living paycheck to paycheck in cities like Milwaukee, and the justice-impacted individuals seeking a second chance, everyone deserves accessible and affordable housing.