Wisconsin — 2025 Year in Review
Land use and zoning activity from city and county planning meetings in Wisconsin during 2025.
Wisconsin indexed 2,273 projects with decisions in 2025 across 19 counties, with 2,588 approved and 38 denied actions (98.6% approval rate). Dane County led with 552 projects (24% of the state), followed by Waukesha County (324) and Brown County (271). Together those three counties accounted for 50% of indexed activity.
Read the Complete Wisconsin Planning Commission Guide for context on how planning decisions work in Wisconsin.
“Projects with decisions” counts unique projects. “Approved” and “Denied” count individual actions (one project can have multiple actions across meetings).
By county
| County | Projects | Approved actions | Denied actions | Approval % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown | 271 | 322 | 8 | 97.6% |
| Calumet | 58 | 59 | 1 | 98.3% |
| Chippewa | 5 | 4 | 2 | 66.7% |
| Dane | 552 | 619 | 8 | 98.7% |
| Douglas | 194 | 216 | 4 | 98.2% |
| Fond du Lac | 167 | 199 | 5 | 97.5% |
| Jefferson | 50 | 56 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Juneau | 24 | 28 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Manitowoc | 39 | 40 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Marathon | 23 | 24 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Milwaukee | 38 | 40 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Sauk | 29 | 36 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Sheboygan | 34 | 31 | 3 | 91.2% |
| St. Croix | 103 | 118 | 1 | 99.2% |
| Walworth | 170 | 202 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Washington | 56 | 58 | 2 | 96.7% |
| Waukesha | 324 | 393 | 4 | 99.0% |
| Winnebago | 136 | 142 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Wood | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
Data from public meeting documents processed by Boardwalk. Coverage varies by jurisdiction. Not all cities and counties are included.