Wisconsin

Wisconsin Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2025, Wisconsin exported $27.1 billion of goods to the world. In 2023, exports from Wisconsin supported an estimated 106 thousand jobs (latest data available).

Exports from Wisconsin and Jobs

• Wisconsin was the 21st largest state exporter of goods in 2025.
• In 2025, Wisconsin goods exports were $27.1 billion, an increase of 21 percent ($4.7 billion) from its export level in 2015.
• Wisconsin goods exports in 2023 supported an estimated 106 thousand jobs (latest data available). Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Wisconsin and Jobs

• In 2025, Wisconsin exported $26.0 billion of manufactured products.
• Wisconsin exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 96 thousand jobs in 2023 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category was machinery, except electrical, which accounted for $5.1 billion of Wisconsin total goods exports in 2025.
• Other top manufacturing exports were computer & electronic products ($4.7 billion), transportation equipment ($2.7 billion), chemicals ($2.7 billion), and food & kindred products ($2.5 billion).

Exports Sustain Thousands of Wisconsin Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 8,489 companies exported from Wisconsin locations in 2023 (latest data available). Of those, 7,235 (85 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 26.2 percent of Wisconsin total exports of goods in 2023.

Wisconsin's Largest Export Markets

• The state’s largest export market was Canada. Wisconsin exported $7.5 billion in goods to Canada in 2025, representing 28 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by Mexico ($4.0 billion), the Netherlands ($1.0 billion), China ($1.0 billion), and Germany ($942 million).
• Wisconsin goods exports to major world areas included:

• 56 percent of Wisconsin goods exports ($15.2 billion) in 2025 went to current FTA partners.

Wisconsin's Top Agricultural Exports

• Wisconsin was the country’s 16th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $3.8 billion in domestic agricultural exports abroad in 2024 (latest data available according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture). 1
• Top agricultural exports were:

	2024 Value	2024 State Rank
dairy products	$1.1 billion	2
soybeans	$570 million	14
corn	$364 million	11
other plant products	$301 million	24
beef and veal	$279 million	11

International Investment Creates Jobs in Wisconsin

• In 2023 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed an estimated 143 thousand Wisconsin workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Wisconsin included the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany.

Wisconsin’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

• In 2024 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Wisconsin recorded goods exports: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington ($21.7 billion), Milwaukee-Waukesha ($8.9 billion), Racine-Mount Pleasant ($3.6 billion), Madison ($2.7 billion), Oshkosh-Neenah ($1.4 billion), Duluth ($1.3 billion), Appleton ($1.2 billion), Janesville-Beloit ($941.3 million), Sheboygan ($902.5 million), Kenosha ($879.7 million), Eau Claire ($877.4 million), and Green Bay ($838.2 million).