Milwaukee vs West Allis

A side-by-side comparison of Milwaukee and West Allis: population, income, housing, and more.

Milwaukee and West Allis are places in Wisconsin. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Milwaukee has the higher population (569,756 vs 59,588 in West Allis). West Allis has the higher median household income ($69,685 vs $51,888 in Milwaukee). West Allis has the higher median home value ($191,700 vs $172,000 in Milwaukee).

Population, income & housing

	Milwaukee	West Allis
Population	569,756	59,588
Median age	32.2 yrs	39.0 yrs
Median household income	$51,888	$69,685
Median home value	$172,000	$191,700
Median gross rent	$1,033	$1,012
Housing units	257,973	29,841
Homeownership rate	41.5%	54.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.6%	29.4%
Unemployment rate	5.9%	3.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Milwaukee	West Allis
Population	594,548 → 569,756 (-4.2%)	60,025 → 59,588 (-0.7%)
Median household income	$41,838 → $51,888 (+24.0%)	$52,325 → $69,685 (+33.2%)
Median home value	$122,100 → $172,000 (+40.9%)	$146,100 → $191,700 (+31.2%)
Median gross rent	$858 → $1,033 (+20.4%)	$845 → $1,012 (+19.8%)

Milwaukee

Population

594,548569,756

Median household income

$41,838$51,888

Median home value

$122,100$172,000

Median gross rent

$858$1,033

West Allis

Population

60,02559,588

Median household income

$52,325$69,685

Median home value

$146,100$191,700

Median gross rent

$845$1,012

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Milwaukee	West Allis
Under 5	6.9%	6.1%
5 to 17	18.6%	14.1%
18 to 24	11.6%	5.8%
25 to 34	17.0%	18.3%
35 to 44	13.0%	13.4%
45 to 54	10.6%	11.2%
55 to 64	10.4%	14.6%
65 to 74	7.4%	11.1%
75 and over	4.4%	5.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Milwaukee	West Allis
White (non-Hispanic)	32.3%	69.8%
Black or African American	38.1%	5.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.3%
Asian	4.8%	3.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.5%	4.8%
Hispanic or Latino	20.7%	16.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Milwaukee	West Allis
No high school diploma	14.5%	7.4%
High school graduate	30.8%	31.3%
Some college or associate's	28.1%	31.9%
Bachelor's degree	17.2%	22.0%
Graduate or professional degree	9.4%	7.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Milwaukee	West Allis
Drove alone	67.8%	79.0%
Carpooled	10.0%	6.3%
Public transit	5.4%	3.6%
Walked	4.0%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.3%
Worked from home	11.2%	8.6%
Other means	1.2%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Milwaukee	West Allis
1-unit, detached	39.4%	50.9%
1-unit, attached	3.9%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	29.6%	19.7%
5 to 19 units	9.9%	9.8%
20 or more units	16.8%	15.9%
Mobile home & other	0.4%	1.9%

Poverty & households

	Milwaukee	West Allis
Poverty rate	23.3%	10.5%
Average household size	2.40	2.12
Mean commute (minutes)	22	21
Median year structure built	1952	1956