The Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is conducted as part of a national effort by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor health-risk behaviors of the nation's high school students. These behaviors, in turn, result in the most significant causes of both mortality and morbidity during youth and adulthood. The behaviors monitored by the Wisconsin YRBS include traffic safety; weapons and violence; suicide; tobacco use; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behavior; and diet, nutrition, and exercise.
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has administered the YRBS every two years beginning with 1993. The YRBS is administered to students in Wisconsin's public high schools. Survey procedures were designed to protect the privacy of students by allowing anonymous and voluntary participation. Local parent permission procedures were followed before administration, including informing parents that their child's participation was voluntary.
For more information about the YRBS and why it is important, please watch the following video:
Overview of the survey
National YRBS
National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. This web site includes the most recent YRBS questionnaire for surveys of 9th - 12th grade students, published reports, data files and documentation, and Youth Online, which provides interactive access to national, state, and local survey results.
Youth Online: Comprehensive Results.
YRBS Youth Online lets you:
- Examine risk behaviors in six categories: unintentional injuries and violence, tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, sexual behaviors, dietary behaviors, and physical activity;
- Compare results from national, state, territorial, and local surveys ;
- Examine trends over time;
- Stratify by race/ethnicity, sex, or grade; and
- View results as tables or graphs.
See the Conducting A YRBS page for information on registering, taking the survey, and getting results.
Note: This page is about Wisconsin statewide statistics only. If you want to conduct your own local survey at the school, district, or county level, please use this page.
2023 YRBS Information
The 2023 YRBS is being administered between January 3 and June 30, 2023. Please visit the Conducting a YRBS webpage for more information. Also, please subscribe to the YRBS e-mail list to receive updates.
2021 YRBS Information
The 2021 reports are now available. Reports available include: high school, middle school, district, and county reports. In addition, the representative statewide sample report has been released. Please see below under YRBS 2021 for access information.
Stay up-to-date by subscribing to the Wisconsin YRBS e-mail list by sending an email to subscribe-wi_yrbs_general@lists.dpi.wi.gov with the word “Subscribe” in the heading.
Youth Risk Behavior Survey
For questions about accessing or interpreting Wisconsin’s YRBS data, contact Denise Kohout (608) 266-0282.