Milwaukee County, Wisconsin: commercial real estate data.
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin had an estimated 924,740 residents on July 1, 2024, down 1.6 percent since the 2020 census base of 939,486, across 241 square miles. County output reached $78.80 bn in 2024, 20,466 establishments operate here, and the SBA record carries 999 7(a) approvals worth $506.7 m since FY2020.
Underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency.
Milwaukee County
How many people live in Milwaukee County
- Population, American Community Survey 2020-2024926,331
- Households392,399
- Average household size2.36
- Median household income$64,435
- Median age35.5
- Median gross rent$1,101 per month
- Median owner-occupied home value$230,700
- Home value to household income3.6 times
- Annual rent as a share of median income20.5 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher34.7 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree12.6 percent
- Adults 25 and over619,605
- Population under 18219,441
- Share under 1823.7 percent
- Population 65 and over136,581
- Share 65 and over14.7 percent
- Working age population, 18 to 64570,309
- Civilian labor force475,987
- Unemployment rate4.8 percent
- Labor force participation, adults 18 and over67.3 percent
- Rank by population among Wisconsin counties1st of 72
- Rank by population among US county-equivalents, Puerto Rico included61st of 3,222
Milwaukee County is the 1st largest of 72 Wisconsin counties by population. A median home costs 3.6 times median household income, which is moderately unaffordable by national standards. Residents under 18 outnumber those 65 and over, at 23.7 percent against 14.7 percent, a household formation profile rather than a retirement one.
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year.
Milwaukee County
Is Milwaukee County's population growing?
- Population, July 1, 2024924,740
- Census 2020 base population939,486
- Population change since the 2020 census base-1.57 percent
- Population change, 2023 to 20242,880
- Births, 202411,133
- Deaths, 20248,793
- Natural change, 20242,340
- Net domestic migration, 2024-5,604
- Net international migration, 20246,128
- Total net migration, 2024524
- Cumulative net domestic migration, 2021 to 2024-40,157
- Rank by growth among US county-equivalents2381st of 3,144
The county has lost 1.57 percent of its population since the 2020 census base. The population grew in 2024 from both sources: births exceeded deaths and more people moved in than left.
US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024, Vintage 2024, estimates 2020 to 2024.
Milwaukee County
Where are people moving to Milwaukee County from?
- Tax returns filed by households arriving17,589
- People arriving, from those returns25,657
- Tax returns filed by households leaving21,757
- Net household movement-4,168
- Adjusted gross income arriving$1.17 bn
- Net adjusted gross income movement$-617.4 m
- Average income of an arriving household$66,513
- Average income of a leaving household$82,146
- Largest single originWaukesha County (3,223 households)
- Largest single destinationWaukesha County (4,921 households)
| Origin | Households | People | Adjusted gross income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waukesha County | 3,223 | 4,621 | $213.5 m |
| Racine County | 973 | 1,410 | $52.0 m |
| Cook County | 897 | 1,353 | $70.5 m |
| Dane County | 841 | 1,002 | $45.8 m |
| Ozaukee County | 620 | 884 | $68.6 m |
| Washington County | 577 | 808 | $36.7 m |
| Kenosha County | 387 | 527 | $20.3 m |
| Lake County | 266 | 376 | $14.5 m |
Households arriving report $15,633 less average income than households leaving, which drains spending power even where headcount holds up. The largest single source of arrivals is Waukesha County, which is the catchment a retail or multifamily study should look at first.
US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Milwaukee County
What is the Milwaukee County economy?
- County GDP, 2024$78.80 bn
- County GDP, 2023$74.90 bn
- GDP change, 2023 to 20245.2 percent
- GDP change over five years30.3 percent
- Rank by GDP among the Wisconsin areas BEA publishes1st of 72
- Rank by GDP among the US county areas BEA publishes66th of 3,127
- GDP per resident$85,071
Output grew 5.2 percent in the latest year and 30.3 percent over five, which is the trend line a lender will read behind any single year figure.
US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024.
Milwaukee County
Employment by industry in Milwaukee County
- Covered employment, annual average469,055
- Establishments reporting29,416
- Average annual pay$69,142
- Average weekly wage$1,330
- Health care and social assistance, employment94,837
- Health care and social assistance, average annual pay$59,333
- Manufacturing, employment47,202
- Manufacturing, average annual pay$81,312
- Accommodation and food services, employment38,784
- Accommodation and food services, average annual pay$24,942
- Retail trade, employment37,613
- Retail trade, average annual pay$37,343
- Administrative and support and waste management services, employment30,215
- Professional, scientific and technical services, employment22,977
| Sector | Employment | Establishments | Average annual pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 94,837 | 10,848 | $59,333 |
| Manufacturing | 47,202 | 924 | $81,312 |
| Accommodation and food services | 38,784 | 2,097 | $24,942 |
| Retail trade | 37,613 | 2,476 | $37,343 |
| Administrative and support and waste management services | 30,215 | 1,268 | $42,723 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 22,977 | 2,540 | $109,956 |
| Finance and insurance | 21,192 | 1,114 | $143,466 |
| Educational services | 19,934 | 325 | $86,052 |
Health care and social assistance is the largest private sector at 94,837 jobs, 20.2 percent of covered employment.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages.
Milwaukee County
How many businesses are in Milwaukee County?
- Establishments, all industries20,466
- Employment at those establishments435,400
- Annual payroll$30.47 bn
- Establishments per 1,000 residents22.1
These are counts of establishments physically operating in the county, not listings, so they are the supply side a feasibility study measures demand against. County Business Patterns counts private establishments with paid employees in March 2023, while the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages above counts every unemployment-insured employer, public ones included, as a 2024 annual average, so the two establishment and employment counts differ.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023.
Milwaukee County
Building permits in Milwaukee County
- Housing units authorized by permit, 20241,005
- Declared construction value permitted$219.7 m
- Single family units authorized189
- Multifamily units authorized816
- Multifamily share of units81.2 percent
- Average declared value per unit$218,574
- Units authorized per 1,000 households2.6
Multifamily is 81.2 percent of units authorized, so the pipeline is being built for renters rather than buyers.
US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual.
Milwaukee County
SBA loans in Milwaukee County (7(a) and 504)
- 7(a) approvals recorded999
- 7(a) gross approval dollars$506.7 m
- Average 7(a) approval$507,243
- Median 7(a) approval$190,000
- 10th percentile approval$25,000
- 90th percentile approval$1,320,400
- Largest single approval$5,000,000
- Jobs reported supported, 7(a)11,445
- Jobs per approval11.5
- Distinct 7(a) lenders active103
- Distinct industries receiving approvals258
- Median 7(a) term120 months
- Share of loans on real estate terms, 240 months or longer18.0 percent
- Loans on real estate terms180
- Loans on working capital terms, 120 months or shorter761
- Franchise loans108
- Franchise share of approvals10.8 percent
- Leading industry by approval countFull-Service Restaurants (54)
- Most active lenderU.S. Bank, National Association (127)
- 504 approvals recorded328
- 504 gross approval dollars$270.9 m
- Average 504 approval$825,817
- Median 504 approval$592,500
- Distinct CDCs active4
- 504 jobs per approval10.8
- 504 jobs per million dollars approved13.1
- Most active CDCWBD, Inc. (306)
- Combined SBA approval dollars, 7(a) FY2020 to FY2026 and 504 FY2010 to FY2026$777.6 m
The average approval of $507,243 sits well above the median of $190,000, pulled up by a few larger deals, so the median is the better guide to what a typical borrower here gets. Only 18.0 percent of approvals run on real estate terms, so SBA credit here is mostly working capital and equipment rather than property acquisition.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30. US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Milwaukee County
SBA loan default and charge-off rates in Milwaukee County
Do SBA loans in Milwaukee County get paid back?
- Loans with a final outcome recorded202
- Paid in full184
- Charged off18
- Charge-off rate on resolved loans8.9 percent
- Status: Paid in full184
- Status: Exempt from disclosure626
- Status: Cancelled124
- Status: Charged off18
- Status: Committed, not yet disbursed47
Of the 202 loans that have reached a final outcome, 8.9 percent were charged off. This is computed only over resolved loans, because a loan still running has not yet succeeded or failed and counting it either way would be wrong.
Compare against the national and state SBA charge-off rates, computed the same way over resolved loans only.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Milwaukee County
SBA lending by place in Milwaukee County
- Borrower cities with recorded lending23
- Milwaukee, approvals662
- Oak Creek, approvals59
- West Allis, approvals51
- Wauwatosa, approvals46
- Franklin, approvals45
- Cudahy, approvals24
| Borrower city | Approvals | Gross approval dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 662 | $332,120,900 |
| Oak Creek | 59 | $35,065,000 |
| West Allis | 51 | $26,663,600 |
| Wauwatosa | 46 | $22,428,000 |
| Franklin | 45 | $25,283,500 |
| Cudahy | 24 | $21,931,900 |
| Hales Corners | 17 | $4,579,000 |
| Greenfield | 15 | $10,930,000 |
| 15 other borrower cities | 80 | $27,734,300 |
Milwaukee accounts for 662 approvals against 59 in Oak Creek. County level figures average over that gap, which is why a site decision is made at the submarket rather than the county.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Milwaukee County
How large is Milwaukee County?
- Land area241 sq mi
- Rank by land area among Wisconsin counties70th of 72
- Width, east to west12.3 mi
- Height, north to south24.2 mi
- Geographies sharing a boundary3
- Residents per square mile of land3,844
- Establishments per square mile84.92
US Census Bureau county boundary geometry, TIGER, adjacency computed from shared boundary vertices, TIGER county boundaries. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year. US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023.
Milwaukee County
Flood risk in Milwaukee County
- Communities in the county in the NFIP Community Status Book19
- Of those, participating in the NFIP19
- NFIP participation rate100.0 percent
- Communities carrying a CRS class0
- Radon levels in Milwaukee County, EPA zone predicted average indoor radon screening level from 2 to 4 pCi/LZone 2
The EPA places Milwaukee County in radon zone 2, a predicted average indoor radon screening level from 2 to 4 pCi/L. The zone is a screening prediction for the county and does not substitute for a test at an address. 100.0 percent of the county's listed communities participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, per Federal Emergency Management Agency, NFIP Community Status Book (OpenFEMA), as of 2026-09-26.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, NFIP Community Status Book (OpenFEMA), as of 2026-09-26. US EPA, Map of Radon Zones, county spreadsheet, 2024-05 publication, EPA 402/A-16/001.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Traffic counts, zoning and the flood zone at an address are not on this page; they resolve at the address in the platform. How this page was built →
Feasibility studies
When a Milwaukee County site needs a document a lender will accept.
The same data layer behind this page is the one the studies are written from. A study for a Milwaukee County site starts with the figures you are reading, carrying the same source and period into the credit file.
- Population, American Community Survey 2020-2024926,331
- Households392,399
- Average household size2.36
- Median household income$64,435
- Median age35.5
Common questions
Milwaukee County questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin?
The Census Bureau estimates 924,740 residents on July 1, 2024 (US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024). The American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimate is 926,331, in 392,399 households, ranking 1st of 72 Wisconsin counties. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year.
Is Milwaukee County's population growing?
The population has fallen 1.57 percent since the 2020 census base of 939,486, to 924,740 on July 1, 2024. In 2024 there were 11,133 births against 8,793 deaths, with net migration of 524. Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024, Vintage 2024, estimates 2020 to 2024.
What is the median household income in Milwaukee County?
$64,435. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $230,700, which is 3.6 times income, and median gross rent is $1,101 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year.
How many businesses are in Milwaukee County?
20,466 establishments, employing 435,400 people with an annual payroll of $30.47 bn. These are establishments physically operating in the county, not listings. Source: US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023.
What is employment by industry in Milwaukee County?
Health care and social assistance is the largest private sector at 94,837 jobs, 20.2 percent of covered employment. Covered employment averages 469,055 jobs at an average annual pay of $69,142, or $1,330 a week. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages.
How much SBA lending happens in Milwaukee County?
999 7(a) approvals totaling $506.7 m since FY2020, across 103 lenders, with a median approval of $190,000, plus 328 504 approvals worth $270.9 m since FY2010. These are approvals recorded in the release, not loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans in Milwaukee County get paid back?
Of the 202 loans that have reached a final outcome, 184 were paid in full and 18 charged off, a charge-off rate of 8.9 percent. Loans still running are excluded, because they have not yet succeeded or failed.
How many building permits were issued in Milwaukee County?
1,005 housing units were authorized by permit in 2024, with a declared construction value of $219.7 m. Multifamily was 81.2 percent of units. Source: US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual.
What is the radon zone for Milwaukee County?
Zone 2, a predicted average indoor radon screening level from 2 to 4 pCi/L. Source: US EPA, Map of Radon Zones, county spreadsheet, 2024-05 publication, EPA 402/A-16/001.
Where do people moving to Milwaukee County come from?
The largest single origin is Waukesha County, with 3,223 households. Arriving households report an average income of $66,513 against $82,146 for those leaving. Source: US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Are traffic counts available for Milwaukee County on this page?
No. Annual average daily traffic resolves in the platform rather than in this dataset, so no AADT figure is printed here. It is a gap we know about rather than a figure we estimated.
Is zoning published for Milwaukee County?
No. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning, and where a statutory framework applies it is marked as the statewide frame, to be confirmed locally.
Milwaukee County
Cities and places in Milwaukee.
19 Census places lie wholly or partly in Milwaukee County. All 19 carry enough published place level data for a page of their own and are linked.
| Place | Type | Population | SBA 7(a) approvals, projects in this county | Lies in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | city | 566,973 | 662 | Wholly in this county |
| West Allis | city | 59,612 | 51 | Wholly in this county |
| Wauwatosa | city | 48,529 | 46 | Wholly in this county |
| Greenfield | city | 37,345 | 15 | Wholly in this county |
| Oak Creek | city | 37,325 | 59 | Wholly in this county |
| Franklin | city | 35,886 | 45 | Wholly in this county |
| South Milwaukee | city | 20,442 | 15 | Wholly in this county |
| Cudahy | city | 17,853 | 24 | Wholly in this county |
| Whitefish Bay | village | 14,665 | 2 | Wholly in this county |
| Greendale | village | 14,594 | 12 | Wholly in this county |
| Glendale | city | 13,656 | 10 | Wholly in this county |
| Shorewood | village | 13,627 | 6 | Wholly in this county |
| Brown Deer | village | 12,564 | 7 | Wholly in this county |
| St. Francis | city | 9,004 | 11 | Wholly in this county |
| Hales Corners | village | 7,689 | 17 | Wholly in this county |
| Fox Point | village | 6,683 | 3 | Wholly in this county |
| Bayside | village | 4,329 | None recorded | 96.0 percent here, 4.0 percent Ozaukee County |
| West Milwaukee | village | 4,038 | 3 | Wholly in this county |
| River Hills | village | 1,632 | 1 | Wholly in this county |
A further 10 of the county's 999 SBA 7(a) approvals are to borrowers in cities that match no Census place in Milwaukee County, the largest being Menomonee Falls (4), Chicago (2), Hartland (2). Those are postal cities, unincorporated areas and cities outside the county, so no place row claims them; they are counted in the county total above.
Nearby