TUE AM News: Milwaukee ranked near bottom among 50 U.S. metros for multifamily market; Evers accusing Trump administration of obstructing economic data release

January 27, 2026

— Milwaukee was ranked near the bottom among 50 U.S. metro areas for the strength of its multifamily housing market, despite a growing renter pool and low vacancy rates.

The ranking comes from Marcus & Millichap’s ‘26 Multifamily National Investment Forecast, which was published yesterday by the national brokerage firm. The report highlights cities from across the country, including the state’s largest housing market in southeastern Wisconsin.

Milwaukee ranked 47th in the firm’s National Multifamily Index for the year, which rates major U.S. markets on various factors such as job growth, vacancy rates, construction trends, housing affordability, rent and more.

The Milwaukee area’s average effective rent is expected to rise 2.2% this year to $1,692 per month, the report shows. That’s the slowest year-over-year growth since 2020.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s vacancy rate is expected to dip down to 3.6% this year due to “plummeting new supply” and steady renter demand. Authors note that’s among the best in the country and below the metro area’s average for the prior decade.

But that strength is offset by a “weak” labor report, as Milwaukee is projected to lose 8,000 jobs this year. That’s the third largest forecast among major U.S. metro areas, authors note.

Still, Milwaukee’s elevated home prices and mortgage costs are driving growth in the number of renters, sustaining demand for attainable apartments in the area.

“Milwaukee’s multifamily fundamentals are showing resilience,” Marcus & Millichap Senior Managing Director Todd Lindblom said in a statement.

At the same time, “employment headwinds” and limited population growth are expected to further restrain more high-end leasing.

But suburbs in Waukesha and Washington counties are poised to see stronger rent growth, according to the report.

“Milwaukee County recorded the fastest annual wage growth among Wisconsin counties in early 2025, and household income growth in 2026 is expected to rank among the nation’s strongest — signaling continued support for leasing momentum,” authors wrote.

The report spotlights Milwaukee Tool’s $42 million expansion in nearby Menomonee Falls, which is expected to create about 300 jobs, “potentially boosting investor interest locally.”

See more in the report.

— Gov. Tony Evers is accusing the Trump administration of obstructing economic data reporting on the state’s outdoor recreation industry.

The guv sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis calling for the release of the 2024 Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, which has provided data on the industry since 2018. The latest available report, covering 2023, shows the sector had an $11 billion state impact that year.

“Unfortunately, due to the Trump Administration’s continued obstruction of important economic data reporting that states rely on, Wisconsin is still waiting on the BEA to send us our 2024 statewide outdoor recreation economic impact data,” Evers wrote.

Without it, he says the industry will need to plan for the future with an incomplete view of the economic landscape, “limiting our opportunity” for success.

“It is crucial that this data be prioritized and made public,” he wrote.

See the release, which includes the full letter.

— Attorney General Josh Kaul and other state AGs are demanding changes to the AI chatbot Grok, urging the company that owns it to address “harmful” uses of the technology.

Grok is owned by xAI, which also owns the social media platform X, formerly called Twitter.

In their letter to the California company, the 35 AGs said they are “deeply concerned” about reports that Grok is generating nonconsensual intimate images of real people including children. They acknowledge it’s not the only AI platform with such capabilities, and lay some of the blame with “bad actors” using it for these purposes.

But they say Grok “merits special attention” as it promoted and facilitated the production and public dissemination of these images, and made it easy to do so. The letter says xAI purposely built its text models to engage and explicit chat and included a “spicy mode” that created sexualized images of real people without their consent.

What’s more, the company has used these capabilities as “selling points” for the Grok system, the AGs argue.

In a statement on the issue, Kaul said companies must keep their AI chatbots from causing harm.

“Companies that own AI chatbots must ensure that there are adequate protections in place against harmful uses of that technology,” he said.

The letter acknowledges xAI and other tech companies have taken some steps recently to address exploitative AI imagery. But the AGs say xAI needs to do more to curtail its tools after “allowing them to run rampant,” noting the images that were already created are still visible on social media.

They’re asking xAI to provide information on how it’s working to ensure Grok can no longer create nonconsensual intimate images and child sex abuse material, as well as efforts to eliminate the content that’s already been produced and suspend and report users that have created it, and more.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

See the letter and the state Department of Justice release.

— The Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network has announced a partnership with Utah software firm PointClickCare.

WISHIN says the new effort will improve continuity of care for patients in the state, including those in long-term care and post-acute care settings.

Through the partnership, the network will provide data on admissions, discharges and transfers to inform the company’s services, according to the release. PointClickCare provides health care software that integrates care, billing and operations.

“This collaboration with PCC enables care teams to coordinate healthcare for shared patients moving between acute and post-acute facilities,” WISHIN CEO Steve Rottmann said yesterday in a statement. “By expanding our services and capabilities, outcomes improve for Wisconsinites.”

See the release and see more on the company here.

Top headlines from the Health Care Report…

— State health officials announced a case of the measles has been found in Waukesha County, marking the first confirmed case in Wisconsin this year.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he’s hopeful the bill that would legalize online sports betting through Wisconsin tribes receives a vote this session.

“We haven’t done a vote count, but I’m pretty optimistic that in the end people will look at the facts,” Vos told WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “Look, let me start by saying this. I don’t think online gambling is good for anybody, right? If it were up to me, and I could wave a magic wand, we wouldn’t have it. But that’s not the reality of where we are in the world.

“So if it were up to me, it would be banned everywhere,” he added. “But it’s not, and we can’t, so why would we not want to make Wisconsin at least competitive so some of the taxes come here, and the tribes have a right to offer the same product that people are already getting in Wisconsin, but probably nowhere as regulated.”

Vos also said it’s possible the Assembly would vote on bipartisan legislation that would extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months, as 48 other states have, but quickly reinforced his opposition.

“Sure, yeah,” Vos said when asked if he’s responsible for holding up the legislation. “I think it’s a bad move.”

Meanwhile, as lawmakers continue to wrestle with how to regulate the boom in data centers across the state, Vos called them a “necessary evil.”

“I don’t think any of us predicted this massive boom in infrastructure that’s necessary for data centers,” Vos said. “Look, I think data centers are kind of a necessary evil. I don’t think they’re fantastic for Wisconsin, but I think they’re fantastic for society.”

He said he wants to make sure the state has protections to guarantee that “no one pays more because a data center is coming,” referencing electricity rates.

“We’re going to have less water usage than promised, and most importantly, it’s going to be done in a way that’s friendly to the environment but not requiring renewables to be spread all across Wisconsin,” he added.

Assembly Republicans passed their version of legislation last week with the support of two Democrats, and Evers has said he’ll likely veto the bill.

“Yeah, that’s still bipartisan,” Vos said. “I’m an optimist, right?”

See more from the show.

Register here for a virtual luncheon being held tomorrow by WisPolitics/WisBusiness/State Affairs and the Wisconsin Technology Council. It will explore the competing legislation seeking to regulate data centers in the state.

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