Population, Labor Force and Skills

The population of Barron County is over 43,000 with 75,000 people within a 30 mile radius. The total labor force is over 24,000 with an unemployment rate of 3.9%. Total employment growth in Barron County from 1994 to 1999 has increased almost 14% or 3000 jobs.

Manufacturing employment increased over 9%. Manufacturing accounts for 28% of total employment. Barron County is in the top third of all Wisconsin Counties for manufacturing employment. Manufacturing industries in Barron County had a total of 6,804 employees with a total payroll of $173,188,367, which produced an annual average wage of $25,454. Total payroll for all industries was $442,109,752 which produced an annual average wage of $21,410.

The manufacturing skills present in Barron County include, but are not limited to, tool and die, welding (steel and aluminum), metal fabrication (sheet and structural), precision machining, injection molding of engineering plastics, aluminum die casting, electronic assembly, design and manufacture of ATVs and production equipment.

There are additional skills developed by the nearly 500 persons who were employed at two technical manufacturers in our area that were closed in the 1990s. They include Cray Research in Rice Lake and Dahlberg Electronics in Turtle Lake. Many of these employees are still in the area. These individuals possess the skills necessary for technical assembly operations.