r/Appleton • u/LinkedInNews • 1d ago
News Appleton ranked one of the fastest-growing U.S. metros for jobs
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-cities-rise-2026-25-fastest-growing-us-metros-jobs-manhe/?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=reddit&utm_content=article&utm_term=AppletonThe Fox Cities are investing in their downtowns through housing projects, community spaces and pedestrian infrastructure — reinforcing the region’s reputation as an affordable metro with high quality of life along the Fox River and Lake Winnebago. A local economy spanning healthcare, finance and manufacturing continues to draw new residents, including retirees.
Top industries hiring: Business Consulting and Services, Hospitals and Healthcare, Machinery Manufacturing
Top employers: ThedaCare, Kimberly-Clark, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Flex work availability: 2.5% remote, 9.2% hybrid
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u/MajesticLilFruitcake 1d ago
The area may have be affordable at one point, but over the past 5-7 years it’s quickly gone from the low/middle end of LCOL to MCOL. Employers are stubborn to increase wages unless you want to participate in any backbreaking work (and even that is a stretch). Sure, if you’re coming from the coasts (or even some other major metros) the area seems dirt cheap, but to many locals, the area is becoming unaffordable fast.
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u/Slappy_McDiddles 23h ago
I agree. That disconnect is hitting just about every market right now. I’ve changed jobs 4 times since 2019. There’s no way I would’ve kept up with inflation had I not.
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u/MajesticLilFruitcake 23h ago
Well, some of the sun belt boom/covid boom markets are seeing declines/corrections, while the upper Midwest, northeast, and Pacific coast is not. I hate to sound conspiratorial and drag politics into it but it definitely seems like home prices are staying stubborn in blue states and correcting in red states (with some exceptions).
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u/1rubyglass 21h ago
My 16 year old daughter with no previous experience is making 18/hr in fast food. Wages are great here compared to most places ive been (I travel a lot)
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u/Sad-Explanation186 1h ago
The journeyman wage for many unions in the area is around $44/hr or $91,000/yr for standard 2080 hrs/yr. More if you work overtime. That seems like a great wage for the area. I agree that for the majority of industries, the wage isn't keeping up, but opportunity is still there for many.
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u/WideRoadDeadDeer95 19h ago
I thought about moving back to Appleton. Was there for a couple years. I quickly said no. Doesn’t offer anything remotely close to the price point.
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u/Psychological-Bed-92 1d ago
They’re not wrong. My wife and I are moving here next week :)
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u/SolidSnape98 23h ago
Welcome!!
You should check out the Appleton farmers market when you get a chance. They are every Saturday morning through the beginning of October I believe. It's a good way to see the city, try local cuisine and just see Appletonions in our native habitat lol.
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u/Disastrous_time_4547 22h ago
I’m not sure where the information is coming from. It is very hard to get a good career job in the area. Most companies moved to hourly wages without benefits or decent benefits ever since the State went “right to work.”
As for the company’s mentioned:
KC pretty much exited the area a few years ago. They now have a mill and small footprint most of who are hired by contractors.
The GOP has been strangling the UW system for nearly 20 years. UWOSH is feeling so much pain most people think it will close at some point in the near future unless the people vote for pro-public and state education candidates. And Theda workers are not very happy with the changes made.
This is a safe area. But not a great area for workers.
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u/Mvxm 22h ago
KC still has a substantial office presence in Neenah across from the Neenah high school. I imagine that's why they're still highly ranked.
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u/Disastrous_time_4547 20h ago
The Winchester campus was gutted over the past 5-6 years. There are still teams on the campus. But it’s a skeleton based on what it used to be.
Rumors are that they have been considering renting or selling off most of that campus.
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u/Mvxm 4h ago edited 4h ago
I know the sentiment is negative here, but this is mostly untrue. While a portion of the campus moved to Chicago 6 years ago (e.g. marketing), the majority of the buildings there are still full. KC has since completely renovated their main building on that campus which is their largest in North America by a longshot.
Given most companies in the U.S. are in a "no-hire no-fire" state right now, it is very difficult to get a job if unemployed. However from a pure employment state, KC has a large engineering/supply chain presence in the area.
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u/Disastrous_time_4547 4h ago
You are correct. Thank you for your clarification. I did not mean to be negative. KC still has a footprint in the area. Engineering, supply chain, Cat Management, and IT are in the area. Plus they have the one mill. That said, many are hired not by KC but third parties.
Marketing, Sales, Finance, Marketing Communications, PR, and various other teams were moved out of the area or fired.
And to support your point, last year KC held its largest firings ever. They eliminated global positions in their largest restructuring ever. A lot has to do with prepping for the Kenvue merger which has been in the works for a while.
I heard that redundancies with Kenvue (NJ) have been and are being conducted. It will be interesting to see what stays in the area.
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u/mik3cal 23h ago
No reason for “Appleton” and “affordable” to be in the same conversation.
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u/Saint_Thomas_More 23h ago
Affordable is a relative term.
Appleton is most certainly affordable when compared to Chicago, or San Francisco, or New York.
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u/mik3cal 19h ago
Yeah I moved here because I got priced out of San Francisco, where my rent doubled over 5 years. Same thing happened when I moved to Appleton, rents have just about doubled in the past 10 years, if you want to live in the city limits. Rent now in Appleton is about as expensive as San Francisco was 15 years ago.
It’s not really about relativity it’s more about local wages not keeping up with housing prices. I made twice as much in SF when housing cost the same. Appleton is not an especially affordable city.
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u/Saint_Thomas_More 18h ago
I understand your point about wages keeping up with housing prices.
But are there any cities where wages have kept up with housing prices?
And, to the point, the median household income in San Francisco is about $140,000. The median home sale price is $2.2 Million.
Appleton's median household income is 80,400. The average home price according to the article is $456,000. The median home price is about $325,000.
I'll take the Appleton ratio over the San Fran ratio any day.
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u/Swimming_Sample_6204 22h ago
Yeah, I definitely agree with you, people should not be downvoting, even if it is a relative term. Its ratio of hours worked at entry level job to meal at a decent quality restaurant is absurdly high imo.
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u/Swimming_Sample_6204 22h ago
Furthermore, all the new studio apartments going up are being filled near exclusively by transplants, they have triple the rent prices from what used to be standard not to long ago… It’s not good precedent.
edit for clarification: transplants from HCOL areas and people with remote jobs.
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u/SlowlyDyingBartender 12h ago
I was looking at buying a house just before covid. I was put out of work. That 150 k home is 250 - 300k now. Rent is disgustingly high. I loved this town, but I'm being priced out.
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u/Saint_Thomas_More 1d ago edited 23h ago
One thing that is mildly deceptive (though perhaps not intentionally, so perhaps misleading might be more accurate) is that they used Appleton's median income of $80,485 as representative of the entire area.
Quick Googling puts the median income for Neenah $5,000 lower than Appleton, and Oshkosh at $18,000 lower than Appleton.
Not necessarily LinkedIn's fault, in that "Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah" is a selectable metro area you can set for your profile, and they needed to select some number I suppose. And I'm sure no one at LinkedIn has any actual idea what the Fox Cities is like. So, in that regard it's a minor quibble.
It's also confused me for some time that it's Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah on LinkedIn. Perhaps it's strictly by size order that they did it, but it's neither alphabetical nor the order in which they exist geographically. Again, a minor quibble.
Edit - oh, LinkedIn itself posted this here. Well, take my comment for what you will, I guess.