Metro area · Wisconsin

Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro area

Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI is a metropolitan area of 4 counties in Wisconsin, home to 1,575,010 residents. Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro area has a quality-of-life score of 73 out of 100 (high), ranking #250 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in Wisconsin it ranks #22 of 26. It ranks best on access to exercise opportunities (high), distance to an emergency room (low) and voter turnout (high). It ranks worst on high ozone days (high), days with unhealthy air (high) and homicide rate (high).

73High
Quality-of-life score
#250 of 925 metro and micro areas
Wisconsin
#22 of 26 in WI
Population
1,575,010 (2025)
Land area
1,455 mi²
Density
1,082.6 /mi²
CBSA code
33340

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety14#791/924
  • Economy79#199/925
  • Housing20#744/925
  • Health73#252/925
  • Healthcare96#38/923
  • Environment19#746/917
  • Education88#108/925
  • Infrastructure90#96/925
  • Community83#156/925
  • Leisure & amenities83#160/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Metro and micro areas like Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro area in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Milwaukee CountyCentral county48924,216
  2. Waukesha CountyCentral county98417,210
  3. Washington CountyOutlying county98139,238
  4. Ozaukee CountyOutlying county9994,346

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. MilwaukeePrincipal city566,973
  2. WaukeshaPrincipal city71,233

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Milwaukee566,973
  2. Waukesha71,233
  3. West Allis59,612
  4. Wauwatosa48,529
  5. Brookfield41,273
  6. New Berlin40,270
  7. Menomonee Falls39,539
  8. Greenfield37,345
  9. Oak Creek37,325
  10. Franklin35,886
  11. West Bend32,030
  12. Muskego25,406
  13. Mequon25,270
  14. Germantown20,962
  15. South Milwaukee20,442
  16. Oconomowoc19,080
  17. Cudahy17,853
  18. Pewaukee16,211
  19. Hartford15,821
  20. Whitefish Bay14,665
  21. Greendale14,594
  22. Glendale13,656
  23. Shorewood13,627
  24. Port Washington12,645

Other metro and micro areas in Wisconsin

Areas based in Wisconsin, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M33340