South Milwaukee vs Wauwatosa

A side-by-side comparison of South Milwaukee and Wauwatosa: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Wauwatosa has the higher population (47,718 vs 20,547 in South Milwaukee). Wauwatosa has the higher median household income ($93,859 vs $70,146 in South Milwaukee). Wauwatosa has the higher median home value ($307,600 vs $216,400 in South Milwaukee).

Population, income & housing

	South Milwaukee	Wauwatosa
Population	20,547	47,718
Median age	40.9 yrs	38.7 yrs
Median household income	$70,146	$93,859
Median home value	$216,400	$307,600
Median gross rent	$1,014	$1,373
Housing units	9,150	22,976
Homeownership rate	66.8%	60.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.7%	61.5%
Unemployment rate	3.4%	2.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	South Milwaukee	Wauwatosa
Population	20,957 → 20,547 (-2.0%)	47,971 → 47,718 (-0.5%)
Median household income	$52,678 → $70,146 (+33.2%)	$82,392 → $93,859 (+13.9%)
Median home value	$162,000 → $216,400 (+33.6%)	$242,800 → $307,600 (+26.7%)
Median gross rent	$838 → $1,014 (+21.0%)	$1,116 → $1,373 (+23.0%)

South Milwaukee

Population

20,95720,547

Median household income

$52,678$70,146

Median home value

$162,000$216,400

Median gross rent

$838$1,014

Wauwatosa

Population

47,97147,718

Median household income

$82,392$93,859

Median home value

$242,800$307,600

Median gross rent

$1,116$1,373

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	South Milwaukee	Wauwatosa
Under 5	6.7%	5.9%
5 to 17	14.7%	15.2%
18 to 24	5.1%	6.1%
25 to 34	15.9%	17.0%
35 to 44	11.9%	14.6%
45 to 54	12.2%	11.9%
55 to 64	13.8%	11.5%
65 to 74	12.3%	9.9%
75 and over	7.3%	7.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	South Milwaukee	Wauwatosa
White (non-Hispanic)	78.4%	77.8%
Black or African American	2.4%	6.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.8%	0.4%
Asian	0.4%	4.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.7%	4.5%
Hispanic or Latino	13.1%	5.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	South Milwaukee	Wauwatosa
No high school diploma	6.2%	2.4%
High school graduate	35.6%	13.6%
Some college or associate's	30.5%	22.5%
Bachelor's degree	20.5%	36.6%
Graduate or professional degree	7.2%	24.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	South Milwaukee	Wauwatosa
Drove alone	78.2%	71.8%
Carpooled	6.4%	5.5%
Public transit	1.0%	0.7%
Walked	1.0%	2.5%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.6%
Worked from home	11.4%	18.1%
Other means	1.8%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	South Milwaukee	Wauwatosa
1-unit, detached	60.9%	54.6%
1-unit, attached	4.8%	3.4%
2 to 4 units	16.2%	17.1%
5 to 19 units	11.7%	5.1%
20 or more units	6.3%	19.9%
Mobile home & other	0.3%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	South Milwaukee	Wauwatosa
Poverty rate	12.5%	5.9%
Average household size	2.33	2.17
Mean commute (minutes)	25	20
Median year structure built	1957	1954