In January 2025, the Wisconsin Department of Administration (WDOA) released it's first set of statewide population projections since 2013, with projections based on 2020 U.S. Census data. The projections are primarily based on age cohorts, and the results show a statewide population decline of 200,000 people between 2020 and 2050. This is driven by a large proportion of baby boomers and a decrease in fertility rates and household size over time. Projections reflect past trends and do not account for large shifts in migration or inbound moves due to factors like cost of living, natural disasters, changes in the economy, etc. as these are too difficult to predict.

Key findings for the NCWRPC Region include:

• Half of the Region’s counties decreased in population between 2010 and 2020 (Adams, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, and Wood Counties)

• Nine out of the ten counties are projected to decline in population by 2030, with Vilas County experiencing only 1 percent growth.

• All ten counties’ populations are projected to decline from 2030 to 2050

The table below shows the official WDOA population projections for the NCWRPC Region. The projections show that the NCWRPC Region is projected to experience a 13.1 percent decrease in population by 2050, a projected loss of 58,846 people.

It is time once again for local governments in Wisconsin to submit surface condition ratings for all local roads under their jurisdiction. State statute 86.302(2) requires that the ratings be submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation every two years.

In 2023, the NCWRPC submitted the mandated condition ratings for 45 communities, including 2 counties, 2 cities, 3 villages and 38 towns. In total, over 2,300 miles of road were driven by Commission Staff. The next round of submissions will be due to WisDOT by December 15, 2025.

Commission Staff will be providing a variety of services to local units of government within the Region to meet their needs for pavement rating and submitting to WisDOT. The NCWRPC will continue to offer most of these services free-of-charge to member communities. If you think your community would like to utilize the services of the NCWRPC to help you with this pavement rating mandate, please contact Eric Sonnleitner at 715-849-5510 extension 306 or esonnleitner@ncwrpc.org.

Is your community in need of additional funding to support vital projects? One resource that communities should become familiar with is grants.gov. Grants.gov allows users to not only search for grant opportunities but is also used by many programs for their application process.

Grants.gov also contains a host of resources aimed at helping users learn more about grants such as grant policies, eligibility, reporting, and terminology that they might not already be familiar with.

NCWRPC is also available to help your community apply for grant funding. NCWRPC has extensive experience assisting communities with identifying the right grant programs for their needs, writing successful grant applications, and helping communities navigate the post-award and grant administration process.