Photo: Bfkenney · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Milwaukee earn less than those in 82% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Milwaukee are C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. 22.8% of residents live below the poverty line; Wisconsin has 10.6%. About two in five work in Milwaukee itself; outside it, Wauwatosa draws the most (7%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Income, poverty and work: Milwaukee’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Milwaukee is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #334 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car holds Milwaukee’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Milwaukee stays C.
How many people are in Milwaukee by day
On a workday 129,392 residents head out to work, 104,893 work right here, and 151,714 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.10 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Milwaukee: the destinations
Where Milwaukee clocks in
7% of workers
4% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Jobs in Milwaukee: what the 256,607 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milwaukee, 2013 → 2023: 257,958 → 256,607. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Milwaukee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Milwaukee takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milwaukee workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 227,572 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The commute from Milwaukee, by distance
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Milwaukee is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 261,320 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 98% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 73% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 12.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 16.2% of Milwaukee households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Milwaukee’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
How Milwaukee compares with U.S. towns of 394,000 to 759,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| 2 | Virginia Beach VA | 453,737 | $93K | 8.6% | 4.0% | 47% | A− |
| 3 | Denver CO | 740,613 | $95K | 11.2% | 4.9% | 45% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | El Paso TX | 683,012 | $60K | 18.4% | 6.0% | 79% | C |
| 30 | Fresno CA | 555,549 | $71K | 20.1% | 8.9% | 56% | C |
| 31 | Milwaukee WI | 562,407 | $54K | 22.8% | 6.2% | 45% | C |
| 32 | Tucson AZ | 548,371 | $57K | 18.9% | 6.2% | 57% | C |
| 33 | Memphis TN | 609,647 | $52K | 23.1% | 8.3% | 72% | C− |
| 34 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | C− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Milwaukee, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Milwaukee and its neighbors: 20% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Milwaukee workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | – | C | A+ | 22 min | $54,234 |
| Wauwatosa | 7% | A | A | 20 min | $101,138 |
| Greenfield | 2% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $70,459 |
| Glendale | 2% | B+ | A | 21 min | $78,092 |
| Shorewood | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 21 min | $86,726 |
| West Allis | 4% | B | A | 21 min | $67,611 |
| St. Francis | under 2% | B− | A | 22 min | $57,368 |
| West Milwaukee | under 2% | B− | A | 18 min | $49,128 |
| Menomonee Falls | 3% | A | B− | 21 min | $100,238 |
| Brown Deer | under 2% | A− | A− | 22 min | $93,974 |
| Oak Creek | 2% | A+ | B | 23 min | $96,555 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wauwatosa. Darker towns draw more of Milwaukee’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Milwaukee: questions
What is the median household income in Milwaukee?
$54,234 (±$1,283) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milwaukee?
22.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milwaukee?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milwaukee work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wauwatosa (7%, 4 mi), West Allis (4%, 5 mi), Brookfield (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Milwaukee walkable?
Milwaukee is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.1 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Milwaukee without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 73% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milwaukee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milwaukee
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.