Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in West Allis are lower than in 62% of U.S. towns
11.5% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 10.6% for Wisconsin as a whole. For jobs and income West Allis is better than 61% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (A). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 8.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 12.9 in Milwaukee.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets West Allis apart on work
West Allis trades workers with the towns around it
West Allis has about as many jobs (31,436) as working residents (30,545), but they are mostly different people: 27,612 residents leave for work each day while 28,503 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in West Allis are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of West Allis works one town over
41% of working residents work in a town that borders West Allis: Milwaukee (29%), New Berlin (5%) and Brookfield (5%). Next door ↓
Most West Allis residents work close to home
69% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in West Allis
Job access by car holds West Allis’ grade up (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($67,611, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, West Allis could be anywhere from B− to B+.
How many people are in West Allis by day
On a workday 27,612 residents head out to work, 2,933 work right here, and 28,503 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 (1.03 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.
How many miles West Allis commutes
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.
29% of working residents work in Milwaukee
Where West Allis clocks in
29% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
The kinds of work in West Allis
31,436 jobs are based in West Allis.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Allis, 2013 → 2023: 34,055 → 31,436. 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 West Allis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 21 minutes in West Allis
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Allis workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 27,653 commuters (the 10% 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.
West Allis is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 30,746 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 68% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 92% 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). 10.1% of West Allis households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of West Allis’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, West Allis is 429th of 737 U.S. towns of 42,000 to 81,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Wauwatosa WI | 48,649 | $101K | 5.8% | 2.1% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 257 | Waukesha WI | 70,872 | $84K | 9.8% | 2.7% | 20% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 312 | Appleton WI | 75,452 | $80K | 8.3% | 3.5% | 25% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 427 | DeSoto TX | 56,681 | $83K | 7.6% | 8.9% | 5% | B |
| 428 | Moore OK | 63,609 | $80K | 11.4% | 4.7% | 11% | B |
| 429 | West Allis WI | 60,119 | $68K | 11.5% | 4.1% | 10% | B |
| 430 | Coeur d'Alene ID | 58,179 | $72K | 9.2% | 2.9% | 44% | B |
| 431 | Princeton FL | 42,625 | $83K | 10.5% | 5.1% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 737 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
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 West Allis, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns next door employ 41% of West Allis
The biggest share goes to Milwaukee (29%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | West Allis workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Allis | – | B | A | 21 min | $67,611 |
| Milwaukee | 29% | C | A+ | 22 min | $54,234 |
| West Milwaukee | under 3% | B− | A | 18 min | $49,128 |
| Greenfield | 2% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $70,459 |
| New Berlin | 5% | A+ | C | 22 min | $101,091 |
| Brookfield | 5% | A+ | B | 21 min | $129,548 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of West Allis’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 West Allis: questions
What is the median household income in West Allis?
$67,611 (±$4,132) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Allis?
11.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Allis?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Allis work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (29%, 5 mi), Wauwatosa (8%, 4 mi), Brookfield (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is West Allis walkable?
West Allis is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Allis without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 68% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Allis, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Allis
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.