Milwaukee County vs Waukesha County

A side-by-side comparison of Milwaukee County and Waukesha County: population, income, housing, and more.

Milwaukee County and Waukesha County are counties in Wisconsin. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Milwaukee County has the higher population (927,656 vs 409,040 in Waukesha County). Waukesha County has the higher median household income ($104,100 vs $62,118 in Milwaukee County). Waukesha County has the higher median home value ($373,600 vs $216,500 in Milwaukee County).

Population, income & housing

	Milwaukee County	Waukesha County
Population	927,656	409,040
Median age	35.4 yrs	43.3 yrs
Median household income	$62,118	$104,100
Median home value	$216,500	$373,600
Median gross rent	$1,069	$1,300
Housing units	423,838	173,567
Homeownership rate	49.8%	76.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.9%	47.9%
Unemployment rate	4.7%	2.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Milwaukee County	Waukesha County
Population	951,226 → 927,656 (-2.5%)	400,475 → 409,040 (+2.1%)
Median household income	$50,606 → $62,118 (+22.7%)	$87,277 → $104,100 (+19.3%)
Median home value	$158,300 → $216,500 (+36.8%)	$282,300 → $373,600 (+32.3%)
Median gross rent	$880 → $1,069 (+21.5%)	$1,046 → $1,300 (+24.3%)

Milwaukee County

Population

951,226927,656

Median household income

$50,606$62,118

Median home value

$158,300$216,500

Median gross rent

$880$1,069

Waukesha County

Population

400,475409,040

Median household income

$87,277$104,100

Median home value

$282,300$373,600

Median gross rent

$1,046$1,300

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Milwaukee County	Waukesha County
Under 5	6.5%	5.1%
5 to 17	17.3%	16.1%
18 to 24	9.4%	7.4%
25 to 34	16.1%	10.4%
35 to 44	13.3%	13.0%
45 to 54	11.2%	12.8%
55 to 64	11.7%	15.2%
65 to 74	8.8%	11.7%
75 and over	5.6%	8.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Milwaukee County	Waukesha County
White (non-Hispanic)	48.6%	85.7%
Black or African American	25.6%	1.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	4.7%	3.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.8%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	16.6%	5.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Milwaukee County	Waukesha County
No high school diploma	10.4%	2.9%
High school graduate	28.0%	20.6%
Some college or associate's	27.7%	28.6%
Bachelor's degree	21.8%	31.7%
Graduate or professional degree	12.1%	16.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Milwaukee County	Waukesha County
Drove alone	70.8%	77.5%
Carpooled	8.4%	5.1%
Public transit	3.7%	0.2%
Walked	3.0%	1.1%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.1%
Worked from home	12.7%	15.3%
Other means	1.0%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Milwaukee County	Waukesha County
1-unit, detached	45.4%	69.4%
1-unit, attached	4.3%	6.2%
2 to 4 units	23.0%	5.2%
5 to 19 units	10.4%	8.6%
20 or more units	16.4%	10.1%
Mobile home & other	0.5%	0.6%

Poverty & households

	Milwaukee County	Waukesha County
Poverty rate	17.5%	5.2%
Average household size	2.33	2.43
Mean commute (minutes)	22	23
Median year structure built	1956	1981