Clustering Wisconsin Counties for Analytical Comparisons

Executive Summary This applied research effort intends to provide a rigorous empirical foundation upon which to base groupings, or clusters, of Wisconsin counties for analytical comparisons. We ask a simple question in this paper: which regions (counties) in Wisconsin are homogeneous (hence comparable) given a set of economic and demographic variables? Using the statistical techniques of principal component and cluster analysis we group, or cluster, counties into eight classifications: 3 Forest Related Tourism 3 Tourism and Government 3 Manufacturing and Forestry 3 Diversified and Trade 3 Agricultural 3 Manufacturing 3 Urban and Other (two clusters) In addition to the groupings themselves, the analysis reveals that similar counties that can be either scattered across the state, or grouped in a spatial sense. For example, Tourism and Government counties are located throughout the state, yet, there appears to be a well defined " manufacturing-belt " in the southeast corner of Wisconsin. The analysis reported in the paper provides a framework for grouping counties (or municipalities) with specific analysis in mind. For example, the clustering can be re-estimated with a focus on retail, tourism, or forestry.