Waukesha, Wisconsin

Area Profile

71,233 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Waukesha, in Waukesha County.

73out of 100
Area Score
Top 12% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 15% of 3,904 published cities74
SchoolsTop 45% of 2,668 published cities55
GrowthTop 48% of 2,973 published cities51
Housing affordabilityTop 29% of 4,223 published cities91
Climate3450th of 4,223 published cities61
Physical resilienceTop 3% of 4,182 published cities96
Access3745th of 4,226 published cities69
Economic stabilityTop 25% of 4,226 published cities72
The quick read

Waukesha ranks in the top 15% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.1% and median household income of $83,837.

In the public schools here, 42% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.5 students for every teacher.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Waukesha in the top 3% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
71,233
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$83,837
Top 30% nationally
Density
2,791/sq mi
25.5 sq mi of land
Median age
36.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Waukesha County
Wisconsin
Metro area
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
Nearest major airport
MSN
56 mi · Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld
Median home value
$315,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.1% is lower than 94% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.3% over the past year, to 40,363 employed residents.

42% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 83% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,179$83,837Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,554$44,943Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate9.8%Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.9 minBottom 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher41.7%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment40,363Bottom 45%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.3%Bottom 28%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.3%Top 24%June 2026
Labor force41,656Bottom 44%June 2026
Labor force participation71.2%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$67,440Bottom 47%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$51,160Bottom 48%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 45%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.1%Bottom 6%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.21.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.1% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202484k72k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $83,837 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides30,090$37,020
Registered Nurses22,400$97,360
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand19,810$44,840
Retail Salespersons18,850$34,410
Fast Food and Counter Workers17,490$28,440
Cashiers15,050$30,400

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

42% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 37% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.5 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
27
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
41.7%
Top 46% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
37.2%
Bottom 44% in Wisconsin
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
West HighWaukesha School District1,16717.7
North HighWaukesha School District91115.7
South HighWaukesha School District83311.7
Butler MiddleWaukesha School District78614.337%32%
Waukesha STEM Academy · charterWaukesha School District58013.862%48%
Les Paul MiddleWaukesha School District54712.432%42%
Horning MiddleWaukesha School District53411.427%37%
Rose Glen ElementaryWaukesha School District49016.367%57%
Banting ElementaryWaukesha School District48611.632%27%
Summit View ElementaryWaukesha School District44914.556%47%
Bethesda ElementaryWaukesha School District40113.454%43%
Prairie ElementaryWaukesha School District34813.453%50%

39.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Wisconsin’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,219 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.8 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
17.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,219
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$315,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.76Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate58.8%Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±61031,481Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$41$1,219Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,127$315,500Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.4%Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2.9%Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
51/ 100
Top 48% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2022 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has been broadly flat since 2020, at 71,461 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
114
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.6
Bottom 41% nationally
Year over year
+73%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202471k71k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
20222023202420258353
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+8%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 17°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 34.6 inches, including 48.7 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MILWAUKEE MITCHELL AP, 17.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index61.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation34.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall48.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low17°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10012024 calendar year
Median air quality index43.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing49°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
61
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

96 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, hail and lightning.

HailModerate
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, inland flooding, winter weather, ice storm, landslide, earthquake, strong wind, wildfire, drought, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Waukesha County records 1.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 6.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 9.9 per 100,000 residents in Waukesha County.

Homicide
1.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
6.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
9.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
12.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Waukesha County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Waukesha rather than Waukesha itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 56 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN56 mi9,006 ft
Wittman RgnlOSH69 mi8,002 ft
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD73 mi11,245 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
73
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Other cities in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
MilwaukeeMilwaukee County566,97354vs Waukesha
West AllisMilwaukee County59,61266vs Waukesha
WauwatosaMilwaukee County48,52972vs Waukesha
BrookfieldWaukesha County41,27375vs Waukesha
New BerlinWaukesha County40,27073vs Waukesha
Menomonee FallsWaukesha County39,53980vs Waukesha
GreenfieldMilwaukee County37,345vs Waukesha
Oak CreekMilwaukee County37,32573vs Waukesha
FranklinMilwaukee County35,88676vs Waukesha
West BendWashington County32,03073vs Waukesha
MuskegoWaukesha County25,40678vs Waukesha
MequonOzaukee County25,27078vs Waukesha

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Waukesha

3 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
5318834,892$92,40974
5318633,374$74,58870
5318926,855$117,00878