Census figures show that the gap between the rich and the poor in Wisconsin grew slightly during the last decade.
They show that the gulf between the two was the largest in northern counties, where good jobs are harder to find.
An analysis of 2000 census data shows Wisconsin's income disparity grew by one-point-seven percent during the boom years of the 1990s. That means income distribution statewide became less equal than it was 10 years earlier.
Florence County had the biggest increase in income disparity during the decade, jumping 11.3 percent.
Joel Rogers, director for the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says the state is creating too many low-wage service jobs.
Dave Marcouiller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor who studies urban and regional planning, says some of the income disparity in northern counties can be attributed to older, wealthier people who retire to those areas.
