Add Wisconsin Watch to Google
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

Illinoisans and Minnesotans are buying about the same amount of waterfront property in Wisconsin.

A long-running resentment in Wisconsin is how Illinois residents behave when visiting the Badger State. Another common belief is Illinoisans buy up all the vacation property in Wisconsin, particularly near water.

But that’s exaggerated.

Wisconsin Property Map, an independent project, posted an article examining state property transfer records for sales of waterfront property.

The article stated that from 2021 through mid-2026, Minnesotans bought 9.5% of Wisconsin waterfront property, compared with Illinoisans’ 9.4%.

Wisconsin Watch did its own analysis and found nearly the same figures, with Minnesota edging Illinois by no more than 1 percentage point. 

Illinoisans might gain resentment partly because of the type of property they buy. 

They bought 17.6% of every $1 million-plus lakefront sale during the period, according to the article.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Think you know the facts? Put your knowledge to the test. Take the Fact Brief quiz

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time Milwaukee-based reporter in October 2024 after starting as a freelance Fact Briefs reporter in January 2023. In addition to contributing to Wisconsin Watch’s collaboration with The Gigafact Project to combat online misinformation, he reports on Wisconsin policy, labor, energy and the rapid expansion of data centers across the state. Kertscher is a former longtime reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and the author of two sports books, on Al McGuire and Brett Favre.

Hongyu Liu joined Wisconsin Watch as a data investigative reporter in September 2025. He previously worked at The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, as a data reporting fellow. He conducts data analysis and creates interactive narratives and graphics to identify investigative stories and add context to reporting. Hongyu holds a master’s degree in data journalism from Columbia University. He previously covered local news for various publications in Boston and Beijing, including The Patriot Ledger, DIG Boston and Sampan Newspaper.