Economy of Door County, Wisconsin

By sector

Gross domestic product

An analysis comparing 1999 data for select Wisconsin counties found that Door County was especially strong in the retail of building and materials, groceries, apparel and accessories, miscellaneous retail, and restaurants. For services, it ranked strong in amusement, movie, and recreation and lodging. Door County ran a fiscal surplus in all categories to all other counties, with the exception of furniture & home furnishing, in which Door County had a leakage of sales to other counties. In January 2021, there were 1,263 private establishments for all industries put together, up from 919 establishments in January 1990, but down from a peak of 1,314 establishments in September 2005.

In 2020, the total gross domestic product (GDP) of the county in 2020 dollars was $1.39 billion, a 1.9% decrease from $1.42 billion in 2019. Out of 3,091 counties and county-level equivalents for which figures were available in 2020, Door County had the 1,297th largest economy. In 2019, the county's economy ranked 1,306th out of 3,090 counties. The per-capita GDP in 2020 was $46,370.

The largest out of fifteen different industry sector categories by total GDP generated was finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing at $299 million, which accounted for 21.4% of the overall GDP. This sector was divided into two subsectors. Real estate and rental and leasing accounted for 18.7% of the county's GDP at $260 million, while finance and insurance accounted for 2.8% of the county's GDP at $38 million. The real estate and rental and leasing subsector declined 4.8 percent from 2019 to 2020, while manufacturing increased 0.2% to $274 million. Together, this resulted in manufacturing outpacing and overtaking real estate and rental and leasing in 2020 to become the county's leading individual subsector that year at 19.7% of the county's overall GDP.

Door County was one of 53 Wisconsin counties where manufacturing was a larger industry than real estate and rental and leasing. In 18 of Wisconsin's 72 counties, real estate and rental and leasing was larger than manufacturing. In Waushara County, figures for manufacturing were redacted in 2020 and it is not possible to determine which subsector was larger.

In 2001, the earliest year for which figures were compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP from real estate and rental and leasing in the county was $186 million in chained 2012 dollars. By 2020, the subsector grew to $210 million in chained 2012 dollars, for an increase of 12.9% over 19 years and an average of 0.68% growth each year. Using non-inflation-adjusted dollars, the sector gained 69.0% over the 19 years from 2001 to 2020, for an average annual gain of 3.6%.

Taxable sales

From 2020, Wisconsin Department of Revenue figures, the five largest annual sources of taxable sales were motor vehicle and parts dealers, food services and drinking places, accommodation, nonstore retailers, and building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers. Together they together accounted for 47.3% of all taxable sales in the county.

From 2019 to 2020, Department of Revenue figures, the total value of all taxable rental and leasing services in the county increased 18.8% in non-inflation adjusted, current-year dollars, while the total value of all taxable real estate sold in the county decreased 20.0% during the same time period. Only three areas had a greater percent decrease than real estate that year. Taxable telecommunications sales decreased 24.7%, but this was a result of a legal change which eliminated certain taxes. Taxable computer and electronic product manufacturing sales decreased by 23.8% and taxable machinery manufacturing sales decreased by 22.8%. The largest increases in taxable sales was seen in transportation equipment manufacturing, which gained 203.7%, professional, scientific, and technical services, which gained 90.0%, and nonstore retailers, which gained 80.6%.

Real estate

Housing cost and supply

Between 2000 and 2017, prices for houses in Door County rose only 1.3% annually, less than the U.S. average of 2.5%. The price of houses in the county increased 178% from January 1986 to January 2020. compared to a 235% increase for the state as a whole. Median home price in the county for 2021 was $315,000, with the highest sale volume since at least the 1970s.

According to the 2000 census, 6,201 housing units (30.7%) in the county were built before 1950, 6,580 units (33.6%) were built between 1950 and 1979, and 6,806 units (35.7%) were built between 1980 and 2000, for a total of 19,587 housing units. From 2000 through January 1, 2020, 5,561 new private housing structures have been authorized by building permits. Building permits for new housing structures peaked in 1999 with 527 permits issued and have since declined, with 139 permits issued in 2020. In 2006, nonresidents paid about 60% of the property taxes in the northern half of the county. According to the 2020 census, there were 23,738 housing units in the county. Of these, 13,989 (58.9%) were occupied and 9,749 (41.1%) were vacant. According to 2019, ACS five-year estimates, 46.9% of the housing units in the county were vacant, compared to 12.4% for the state as a whole. In 1960 there were 4,715 cottages or second homes in the county.

As residential and commercial land tend to require more government services than the property taxes they generate, these zones are subsidized by taxes on industrial, agricultural, and open lands. Although these zones may not necessarily have a high valuation, they generally require few government services and, as a result, in a net profit for the county. The demand for real estate in the county increased property prices, which in turn raised property assessments. Development pressure made some feel compelled to subdivide and sell their land, and the rising cost of taxes caused some to develop their land against their wishes. One seller was quoted in 1986 with this reflection: "I really don't have much choice but to sell it – I just can't keep up with it any more. If I don't sell it, I'm afraid my land valuation is going to go so high that I'll be taxed off of it anyhow." From 2006 to 2021, the increase in equalized value in real-dollar amounts was 85.7% for manufacturing, 45.8% for undeveloped land, 25% for productive forest, 10.59% for agricultural, and 19.2% for agricultural forest.

Shoreline development

As of 2011, 7,889 residential buildings were located in within a one-fourth mile (400 meters) of the shore, some which form strip developments enclosing scenic areas. Out of 268 miles (431 km) miles of county shoreline along Lake Michigan and Green Bay surveyed in 2012, 164.4 miles (264.6 km) was developed for low-density residential use, 27.4 miles (44.1 km) for medium-density residential use, 16.9 miles (27.2 km) for commercial use, and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) for high-density residential use. 11.3 miles (18.2 km) was undeveloped forest and 45.7 miles (73.5 km) was located in parks. Out of the entire area surveyed, 42.9 miles (69.0 km) of the shore was replaced with artificial surfaces and 31.8 miles (51.2 km) was surrounded by manicured lawns. By 2012, 211.2 miles (339.9 km), or 78.7% of the 268 miles (431 km) of total shoreline surveyed was developed, an increase from 1964 when only 66.7 miles (107.3 km) had been developed.

Although the Army Corps of Engineers considered most of Green Bay shore and the entire Lake Michigan shore from Baileys Harbor northwards to be non-erodable in 1971, shoreline developments may still be vulnerable to erosion and destruction from ice shoves. Seiches on Green Bay cycle about every 11 hours but are highly variable and are capable of reversing the flow of water from rivers.

The lay of the land reduces the area of floodplains on the west side of the county north of the canal. The city of Sturgeon Bay, the eastern side of the town of Sevastopol, and the towns of Gardner, Nasewaupee, Sturgeon Bay, Forestville, Jacksonport, and Baileys Harbor consist of floodplain to a greater degree than the rest of the county. From 1996 to 2010 an additional 171 acres (69 ha) of land within FEMA designated floodplains was developed. From the spring of 1951 through April 1952, high water damage to existing protective structures in Sturgeon Bay was estimated at $151,000 and damage to other improvements on shore properties and in the water was estimated at $94,000. The value of land lost to erosion was estimated at $21,300 and damage to crops or improvements due to flooding was estimated at $27,000. Altogether this totaled $293,300 in damages within Sturgeon Bay; high water damages in the rest of the county were estimated at $100,000, with $393,300 in total estimated damages throughout the county. The total value of improvements vulnerable to future high water incidents was estimated at $1,465,700. Major flooding occurred in 1973; high lake levels and storm damage cost an estimated $24 million. Between 1978 and July 2012 there were 238 flood insurance policies issued within the county. During these years there were 34 National Flood Insurance Program claims totaling of $180,031. A flash flood in Ephraim in 2017 caused $75,000 in damage and four flooding incidents on the lakeshore from 2019 to 2020 caused $80,000 in damage.

According to the county Land Use Services director, shoreline parcels are frequently listed for sale at almost twice of their tax assessed value. Shoreline parcels tend to be the most highly valued real estate and are typically owned by non-Wisconsin residents unless they are public property.

In 1964, the Door County Board of Supervisors Comprehensive Planning Program stated an opinion in the county's development plan against strip development of the shoreline, and instead advocated cluster development:

By dividing up all 121 miles of presently undeveloped shoreline in the county into 150-foot lots, about 4,200 cottage sites could be provided. The public in this case would be limited to the already overcrowded shoreline of existing parks: and with increasing visitor pressure, these areas would in time become outdoor slums. The adverse effects on general tourism in the county would be severe; transient visitors who came to sightsee, or enjoy the parks and scenery, and who might stay a night or two in the county (and spend considerable money in total), would have increasingly less reason to visit Door County.

and also:

One development possibility is to sliver the remaining shoreline into private lots. This would severely limit public use of the shores and would make the interior area virtually land locked—seriously impairing its development potential. If in addition, the quality of the shoreline were destroyed (trees cut, hills leveled, ground bulldozed, beaches filled) to make development easier, the desirability of much of the area would be lost... a second possibility...is to reserve certain outstanding resource areas as public lands and to encourage clustering of private development along shorelines near existing communities and municipal services and in accordance with good development standards.

In August 1971, the Army Corps of Engineers completed a shoreline use survey:

In 1973, County Planner Robert Florence gave a response to a question about to cluster developments:

I continually advocate that approach. No one listens to me... The county has a general development plan, but it's pretty old. It's outdated. It was good for its time, I suppose. I find criticism with it in that it was primarily an inventory and not really a plan. But it's old and it hasn't been updated. It becomes difficult since it is so old to point to it with any authority and say: "Look. This is a general development plan which the county board adopted back in 19 such-and-such. This outlines the direction that we're going to go. We don't have the kind of document that we can point to with authority and say, "No, Mr. So and So. Your development doesn't fit the scheme."

By 1976, almost all desirable shoreline properties in the county had been subdivided, particularly those with sandy beaches, but at the time not all of the new lots had been sold off or built up. Charles Prentice for the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program noted:

Door County and other unique recreational areas could become overdeveloped and unrecreational. To avoid this, at some point in the process, there is a need for public decisions and the degree to which particular areas should be developed and the degree to which they should remain rural and leisurely in character. Unless these decisions are made, the coastal and other recreational areas will be developed without consideration of important factors which do not receive weight in a free market decision-making process. If this is the case, it is highly likely that many of the results will be looked upon as quite unfortunate.

Effects of high property values

In 2017 the county had the second highest property values per capita in the state. Property values are high because of the effects of tourism. In 1970, a study using 1968 data found that tourism boosts property tax revenues in two ways. One way is through direct tax payments made by seasonal residents and the other way is through the cumulative impacts of tourism which raise the assessed property values for other properties. For every dollar received in the county in tax from seasonal residents an additional $5.30 was received due to the impact of tourism on property assessments for other properties. Combined, this meant that local governments received 17% more property tax revenue than they would have without tourism.

The high property values combined with low enrollment serve to punish local school districts in the state funding formula. Since 1959, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has wanted more school consolidation in Door County in order to achieve their statewide goal of having every district supported by a large tax base and offering a sufficiently comprehensive high school program. However, only the Southern Door School District complied with the DPI's expectations by consolidating into a single site in 1962. On June 17, 1976, the county board passed an ordinance forbidding school districts in the county from complying with state law regarding negative school aid, which required wealthier school districts to fund less wealthy districts. Three of the county's five school districts were affected by the law. The state argued that districts with tiny mill rates needed to pay their fair share to the state and that negative aid would provide equal education to children. The opposing side cited local control of schools, the need for taxing entities to take responsibility for raising taxes, and the rights of school districts to provide more than a minimum education as reasons against negative state aid. Following a November 30, 1976 decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that negative school aid was unconstitutional, the Washington Island School District declared a holiday to celebrate. As a result of the state funding formula, the county's school districts often have referendums for additional property tax funding.

For forested lands, high property values drive up property tax levies, which in turn encourages landowners to enroll their land in the Managed Forest Program to reduce their taxes.

Effects of protected areas on nearby development

A 2012 report found that Door County's preserved open spaces reduced the likelihood that nearby land would be subdivided, but if it was subdivided, areas near the open space were divided into more parcels than those further away. It did not appear to affect agriculture-related development.

Tourism

Comparison of two sub-sectors

In 2020, the arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services sector contributed $120 million to the county's GDP in non-inflation adjusted 2020 dollars.

Using inflation-adjusted chained 2012 dollars, the sector shrank 13.8% over the 19 years from 2001 to 2020, with an average contraction of 0.72% per year. In non-inflation adjusted current-year dollars, the sector grew 51.1% over the 19 years from 2001 to 2020, with an average growth of 2.7% per year.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis subdivides the arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services sector into two smaller sub-sectors. The arts, entertainment, and recreation subsector accounted for 15.1% of the total combined sector at $18 million in 2020 dollars. The other sub-sector was accommodation and food services, which in 2020 accounted for 84.9% of the total combined sector at $102 million in 2020 dollars. The definition used for food services only includes "meals, snacks, and beverages for immediate consumption" rather than food sold at groceries, farm stands, and farmers' markets.

In inflation-adjusted chained 2012 dollars, arts, entertainment, and recreation grew 51% over the six years from 2001 to 2007 when it peaked at the highest value recorded by the BEA. From 2007 to 2020 the sector contracted 34% over 13 years, with 2020 having the lowest value recorded by the BEA. Altogether from 2001 to 2020 the sector grew 0.29% over the 19-year period, for an average of 0.015% growth per year in inflation-adjusted chained 2012 dollars. In non-inflation adjusted current-year dollars, the sub-sector grew 64% over the 19-year period, for an average of 3.4% growth per year.

In inflation-adjusted chained 2012 dollars, accommodation and food services grew 6.6% over the three years from 2001 to when it peaked in 2004 at the highest value recorded by the BEA. From the three years from 2004 through 2007 it contracted 13%. Over the four years from 2007 to 2011, it grew by 6.8% before contracting 5.3% over the two years from 2011 to 2013. From 2013 to 2019, it grew 13.3% over the six years. Over one year from 2019 to 2020 it contracted 21% Altogether from 2001 to 2020 the sector shrank 16% over the 19-year period, for an average contraction of 0.85% per year in inflation adjusted chained 2012 dollars. In non-inflation adjusted current-year dollars, the sub-sector grew 49% over the 19-year period, for an average of 2.6% growth per year.

Sales and spending

Taxable sales for the amusement, gambling, and recreation industry grew 1.78% in non-inflation adjusted, current year dollars from 2019 to 2020, with both years seeing the most sales in July.

In 2020, 3.1% of all traveler expenditures in the state occurred in Door County.

In 2015, Door County arts and cultural organizations spent $9.7 million, of which 70.9% was spent locally, in addition to $15.0 million spent by attendees. An estimated 1,582 volunteers for arts and cultural organizations averaged 35.7 hours each. In 2015, 194,424 people attended arts and cultural events in the county, 78.0% of them non-residents. In 2016, the average arts event attendee from the county spent $28.96, while the average nonresident spent $90.53. In 2016, 50.6% of non-residents said the arts event was the primary reason they made the trip to the county. 66.0% of county resident attendees in 2016 were 65 or older, while 48.6% of non-resident attendees were 65 or older.

Survey responses from arts and cultural organizations in the county from March 13, 2020, to February 15, 2021, estimated that the organizations would lose $10,035,156 due to the impacts of coronavirus, with a median loss of $146,250 per organization. There were forty organizations recorded as existing in the county.

Tourist-oriented businesses

In 2016, 36.1% of all employees in the county worked at establishments with less than twenty employees, the eighth-most in the state. 82.6% of establishments had less than twenty employees, the fourth-highest percentage in the state. In 2003, researchers found that compared to other Wisconsin counties, Door County had a middling amount of inland water acreage, forestland, county-owned acreage, and rail trail mileage and a high number of golf courses, amusement businesses, and campgrounds. Despite the high number of campgrounds the Wisconsin DNR in 2006 reported that "demand for camping far exceeds current supply."

In 1970, a study analyzed 1968 data and found that tourist-oriented businesses in the county tend to earn relatively little due to the multiplier effect from other sectors in the county; certain other sectors were more dependent on one another while tourist-oriented businesses were more dependent on tourists.

Comparison of tourism and manufacturing employment

Manufacturing employment in the county is more stable and less seasonal than tourist employment. 22.0% of the county's 13,728 employed workers in 2018 served in the leisure and hospitality sector, more than any other sector. However, because leisure and hospitality jobs tend not to pay very well, they only earned 12.9% of all wages earned in the county. In contrast, manufacturing employees received 24.5% of the wages paid in 2018, even though they only made up 17.0% of the workforce. This is despite the average annual wage for leisure and hospitality workers being 109.3% of the state average wage for leisure and hospitality in 2018. In contrast, workers employed in manufacturing received 86.7% of the state average wage for manufacturing. Wages in Door County trailed state averages for every sector except leisure and hospitality.

From 2018 to 2019, leisure and hospitability grew 0.1% and manufacturing grew 0.2%. There were 2,683 leisure and hospitability jobs in 2020, with a gain of 2 jobs from the previous year. There were 2,298 manufacturing jobs in 2020, with a gain of 4 jobs from the previous year. From 2019 to 2020, leisure and hospitability contracted 12.7% and manufacturing contracted 4.7%. There were 2,341 leisure and hospitability jobs in 2020, with a loss of 342 jobs from the previous year. There were 2,189 manufacturing jobs in 2020, with a loss of 109 jobs from the previous year.

Utilities

From 2001 to 2020 in inflation-adjusted dollars, the GDP of the utilities sector grew 1,193%, averaging an annual 63% increase over the 19 years, making utilities the fastest growing sector for which statistics were available. The second fastest growing sector was the information industry which grew 184% overall and averaged 9.7% growth per year. In real, non-inflation adjusted dollars, the utilities industry expanded from $292,000 in 2001 to $5.12 million in 2020, an increase of 1,653% over the 19 years with an average annual increase of 87%.

A wind turbine project crossing the county line on the Niagara Escarpment was completed in 1999. At the time the 30.5-acre (12.3-ha) Rosiere Wind Farm was the largest in the eastern United States. Since the retirement of the Kewaunee Power Station in Carlton and the J. P. Pulliam Generating Station in Green Bay, power to Door County is primarily from the gas-powered plant in De Pere (Brown County) owned by SkyGen and the Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Kewaunee County. An exception to this is Chambers Island, which has no electrical grid system.

Non-metallic mining and agriculture

In 2020, the smallest contributor measured to the county's GDP was the mining and quarrying industry at $0.35 million in current-year dollars. From 2019 to 2020, mining added 19 new jobs for a total of 215 jobs in 2020.

The prevalence of shallow soils and exposed bedrock hinders agriculture but is beneficial for mining. As of 2016, there are 16 active gravel pits and quarries in the county. They produce sand, gravel, and crushed rock for roadwork and construction use. Six of them are county-owned and produce 75,000 cubic yards annually.

Minerals found in Door County include fluorite, gypsum, calcite, dolomite, quartz, marcasite, and pyrite. Crystals may be found in vugs.

On three occasions in the early 1900s oil was found within a layer of shale in the middle and southern part of the county. Additionally, solid bitumen has been observed in dolomite exposed along the Lake Michigan shore. Drilling near Maplewood in 1950, in Union from 1950 to 1951, in the town of Sturgeon Bay in 1951, and west of Baileys Harbor in 1972 yielded no oil. In the 1970s, oil leases were sold in the towns of Forestville, Union, Brussels, Gardner, and Baileys Harbor, but no oil was produced.

In 2020, the GDP of the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry was $38.2 million in current-year dollars. In 2018, 430 income tax returns filed by county residents included farm income or expenses, down by 23.6% from 2011 when 563 returns included farm income or expenses.

Agricultural land use in Door County reached its peak in 1920, when 264,126 acres were farmed, representing 85.6% of the county's total land area. In 1944, there were 158,063 acres (63,966 ha) of cropland and 76,775 acres (31,070 ha) of pastures in the county. In 2017, there were 90,126 acres (36,473 ha) of cropland and 6,602 acres (2,672 ha) of pasture, with cropland declining 43.0% and pastures declining 91.4%. The total decline in both cropped and pastured farmland was 58.8% over the seventy-three years. From 2020 to 2017, the total decline for farmland was 63.4% over ninety-seven years, with an average decline of 0.65% per year.

In 1970, a study compiled what each industry received in sales in 1968, how it spent the money, and where the money went after it was spent. Out of all sectors, the combined agriculture, mining, forestry, and fishing sector funneled money to entities within the county more than any other sector. Each dollar in sales made by agriculture, mining, forestry, and fishing resulted in $3.02 more in total sales within the county. For every dollar spent by agriculture, mining, forestry, and fishing, 32 cents was received by other agriculture, mining, forestry, and fishing entities and the rest went to other sectors.

Both sale prices and rental values of agricultural land are lower than most Wisconsin counties. The most important field crops by acres harvested in 2017 were hay and haylage at 25,197 acres (10,197 ha), soybeans at 16,790 acres (6,790 ha), corn (grain) at 15,371 acres (6,220 ha), corn (silage) at 9,314 acres (3,769 ha), wheat at 8,790 acres (3,560 ha), oats at 2,610 acres (1,060 ha), and barley at 513 acres (208 ha). Despite lower productivity for other forms of agriculture, in the early 1900s the combination of thin soils and fractured bedrock was described by area promoters as beneficial to fruit horticulture, as the land would quickly drain during wet conditions and provide ideal soil conditions for orchard trees. For apples, the influence of the calcium-rich dolomite on the soil was expected to promote good color.

In 2018, there were an estimated 23,500 head of cattle in the county. In 2017, Door and Kewaunee counties were reported to have equal deer-to-human ratios, although Kewaunee County had a considerably greater cow-to-human ratio.

The Evergreen Nursery in Sturgeon Bay was founded in 1864. It first consisted of pulling wild evergreens and exporting them via Goodrich steamboats. As of 2021, it was the largest wholesale nursery in the state.