Pierce County

Population

Total Population

42,802

Population
Growth Rate

0.11%

Median Age

37

Diversity Index

20.300

Housing & Income

Households

16,292

Total Housing Units

17,198


Owner Occupied

12,036

Renter Occupied

4,256

Vacant

906

Median Home Value

$274,837


Average Home Value

$313,175

Income
Growth Rate

Median
Household Income

0.00%


Per Capita Income

2.69%

Income Projection

Median Household

$81,383 $93,420


Average Household

$106,662 $120,699


Per Capita

$40,770 $46,547

Workforce

Total Businesses

1,303

Total Employed

11,281

Workers 16+

22,661

2023 Educational Services - Businesses

cp-industries

Businesses

53

Employed

1,789

2023 Public Administration

cp-industries

Businesses

105

Employed

1,424

2023 HealthCare / Social Assistance

cp-industries

Businesses

87

Employed

1,230

2023 Accommodation / Food Service

cp-industries

Businesses

109

Employed

1,011

2023 Food Service / Drinking Est.

cp-industries

Businesses

99

Employed

926

2023 Retail Trade Businesses

cp-industries

Businesses

133

Employed

896

Some
High School

928

Graduated
High School

7,896

Associates
Degree

3,931

Bachelor's
Degree

5,965

Graduate
Degree

2,741

Average Commute Time

27 min.



Resident Commuters

8,817

Non-Resident Commuters

5,009

Drive Alone

17,539

Carpooled

1,823

Public

17

Work At Home

2,068

Government and Taxation

Wisconsin's business tax structure offers several advantages relative to our neighboring state of Minnesota along with a range of exemptions and incentives to encourage ongoing capital investment.  We will be glad to provide a specific projection and two-state comparison customized to your project parameters for your review with your tax advisor.

 WisconsinMinnesota
Corporate Income Tax Rate7.9%9.8%
Alternative Minimum Taxnone5.8% rate
Property Tax (state average, commercial/industrial)$22 per thousand$33 per thousand
Manufacturing machinery & equipment taxationexempttaxable
Sales & Use tax rate:  
State:5.00%6.50%
County option rate:0.50%0.01% to 9.0%
Local option:none.50% to 1.0 %
Sales tax treatment for manufacturing equipment:EXEMPTrefund mechanism
Unemployment compensation rate base:$13,000$25,000
Unemployment compensation rate range:0.05% -- 9.8%0.4% -- 9.3%
Workers’ compensation, average rate per $100$4.93$8.11 

 

Higher Education

Pierce County is blessed with a wide range of education, training, and employment resources for local firms.  Home to a recognized and accredited campus of the University of Wisconsin, Pierce County also is strategically located within a 50 mile radius of fifteen technical and community college campuses, representing a pool of over 25,000 graduates each year from which to recruit.  Pierce County’s six school districts are also recognized for outstanding secondary education programming, resulting in above-average graduation rates, test scores and continuing education participation.

There are also several outstanding private workforce development firms that serve Pierce County and provide efficient service in the areas of job skill evaluation, compensation and benefit surveying, recruiting, evaluation, training, and forecasting.  Human resource professionals of the region meet monthly at the St. Croix Valley Employers’ Association, a peer group recognized by the Society of Human Resource Management and an excellent networking and information sharing resource for Pierce County firms.

Transportation

Pierce County offers a convenient, cost effective and globally connected location for your business.  We are in the southeast corner of the vibrant and cosmopolitan Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, rated one of "America's Smartest Cities" by American Business Journals.  MSP International Airport, one of the world’s major air transportation hubs with convenient flights to key international destinations, is one half hour west of the City of Prescott and within an hour and ten minutes of all of Pierce County.  Executive jet aircraft often find advantage in using the Red Wing Regional Airport’s 5,010 foot runway, fuel service and FBO operations located in southern Pierce County. Interstate 94 is just north of Pierce County for easy highway access to the Twin Cities, Chicago, Kansas City, and the rest of the country.  Several local trucking and warehousing firms provide a wide range of logistics services .  The Burlington Northern Santa Fe system main line between the Twin Cities and Chicago runs along Pierce County’s southern border, and four other rail systems maintain facilities within a half hour of our County.  There’s even a Mississippi River terminal across from Pierce County for  users of commodities transported by river barge. 

The County’s metro location, just across the scenic St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers from Minnesota, also carries the unique potential of business tax savings from a Wisconsin platform.  Generally, Wisconsin’s business tax structure climate offers a more favorable commercial and industrial property tax rate, a more favorable corporate income tax rate, a more favorable unemployment compensation base and rating system, and more favorable workers’ compensation tax rates for most occupations.  Some companies have found that their tax savings from moving to Wisconsin has completely financed the debt service on their new Wisconsin facilities. 

Contact Pierce County Economic Development Corporation for case studies and a customized two-state tax comparison for your new facility.