The Sconi

Battleground State voters, including those in Wisconsin, have highlighted rising housing costs and income erosion as key issues driving their concerns about President Biden’s economic policies. Last week, a poll conducted by the League of American Workers showed a lack of voter confidence in President Biden’s handling of the economy and an overwhelming dissatisfaction with the country's direction.

Steve Cortes, chairman and founder of the League of American Workers, shared insights into the poll's results in a column at Real Clear Politics. He noted that 77% of respondents believe that the country is heading down the wrong track. One reason for this lack of confidence, according to Cortes, is voters' disapproval of the president's handling of the economy. Only 9% registered "strong approval," while 48% registered "strong disapproval" among those who disapproved.

The poll indicated that, overall, economic issues and inflation were most important to voters, with 23% mentioning them first. Further investigation into these concerns revealed that 39 percent cited income erosion and 29 percent listed housing prices as their top two most significant impacts from inflation. The survey was conducted by North Star Research across Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, with participation from 800 registered voters.

"While the President may be selling 'Bidenomics', these results indicate that Battleground state voters aren't buying," said Jon McHenry, a partner with North Star who conducted the survey. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) supports this discontent, as it shows an increase in the shelter index by 7.2 percent and the rent index by 7.4 percent between September 2022 and September 2023 nationally.

According to the Zillow Home Values Index, as of September 30, home values in Wisconsin had a notable increase of 49.5 percent since October of 2018. The index additionally showed that in Madison, the typical home value was about 7.1 percent higher than the current typical home value in the U.S. as a whole and about 42.9 percent higher than the typical home value in Madison in October 2018.

The burden of increased housing costs is further intensified by NerdWallet’s report showing that the average APR on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in Wisconsin on Oct. 31 was 7.957 percent compared to the national average of 7.778 percent, marking a rate increase of almost one percent from a year ago.

Similarly, an analysis by QuoteWizard by Lending Tree found that rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Wisconsin had risen by twenty percent since 2020.

However, while housing costs are rising, American incomes seem to be taking a hit too, as indicated by data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showing an overall decrease in real average weekly earnings for all employees between September 2022 and September 2023.

Furthermore, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, real pre-tax median household income across the United States saw a decline of 2.3 percent between 2021 and 2022. The decrease in real post-tax median household income for the same period was even more significant at 8.8 percent and was mostly a result of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) tax policies expiring, per the bureau. These decreases disproportionately affect people from the lowest-income households.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, real pre-tax median household income in the United States in 2022 was $74,530, representing a 2.3 percent decrease from the 2021 estimate of $76,330.

Interestingly, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' FRED database reveals the median pre-tax household income in Wisconsin in 2022 was $73,330, or about 1.7 percent lower than the national median pre-tax household income.