West Allis, Wisconsin

Area Profile

59,612 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for West Allis, in Milwaukee County.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 31% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 34% of 4,199 cities measured64
Schools3,505th of 4,162 cities measured23
GrowthTop 50% of 4,224 cities measured50
Housing affordabilityTop 9% of 4,218 cities measured82
Climate3,447th of 4,225 cities measured61
Physical resilienceTop 1% of 4,226 cities measured98
Access3,931st of 4,226 cities measured62
Economic stability2,448th of 4,226 cities measured54
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.7% and median household income $67,611, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 26% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.2 students for every teacher.

266 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 6% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
59,612
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,611
Top 49% nationally
Density
5,238/sq mi
11.4 sq mi of land
Median age
39.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Wisconsin
Nearest major airport
MSN
67 mi · Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld
Median home value
$203,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7%, lower than in 74% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.8% over the past year, to 30,663 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsMilwaukee County, WI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,61826th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftMilwaukee County, WI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$74,36455th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,1322024 ACS 5-Year$67,611Top 49%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8992024 ACS 5-Year$39,741Top 33%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.4%Bottom 47%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.4 minTop 28%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year29.6%Top 31%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.8%52nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202630,663Bottom 36%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.1%Bottom 38%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.8%Top 21%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202631,85635th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.2%Top 39%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageMilwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$67,440Bottom 47%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageMilwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$51,160Bottom 48%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year2.8%92nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 38%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.7%Top 26%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.1%61st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.12.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.7% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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

202120222023202470k59k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,611 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

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

26% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 33% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.2 students for every full-time teacher across 13 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
26.4%
Bottom 6% in Wisconsin
Reading proficiency
32.6%
Bottom 18% in Wisconsin
The 12 largest of 13 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Nathan Hale HighWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District1,13416.215%31%
Central HighWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District96114.615%22%
Frank Lloyd Wright IntermediateWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District90212.932%41%
Burbank ElementaryMilwaukee School District55216.718%18%
Horace Mann ElementaryWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District38413.737%32%
West Milwaukee IntermediateWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District37813.517%24%
Irving ElementaryWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District37511.727%37%
Walker ElementaryWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District37114.852%57%
Wilson ElementaryWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District36513.547%47%
Mitchell ElementaryWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District26714.842%42%
Pershing ElementaryWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District25014.737%32%
Franklin ElementaryWest Allis-West Milwaukee School District24413.637%42%

65.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Wisconsin’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 4% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 95.7, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area is up 52% over five years, and up 6.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,894 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.91% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,338, some 33% above the $1,007 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,338 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $53,500 a year, about 79% of the median household income here of $67,611.

The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,007 a month.

A median home at $203,800 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $87,188, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
95.7

Prices here run about 4% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
25.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,338
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,007
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$203,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against West Allis’s median household income of $67,611, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area’s figure202395.7Top 29%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.2%88th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+51.9%84th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+100.9%64th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 45%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year55.5%14th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7332024 ACS 5-Year30,29498th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,119Top 31%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,648Top 26%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,338Top 30%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$432024 ACS 5-Year$1,007Bottom 46%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,2132024 ACS 5-Year$203,80054th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$622024 ACS 5-Year$3,89482nd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,1462024 ACS 5-Year$87,188Top 39%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year1.91%91st percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year25.7%Top 36%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±242024 ACS 5-Year1568th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%52nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.5%47th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3522024 ACS 5-Year1,98398th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

50/ 100
Top 50% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 59,784 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 184 units authorized in 2025, 26% below the prior year.

99% of the 266 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Milwaukee County, which contains West Allis, lost about 0.8% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $59,618, below the $74,364 of households that moved out.

At 4.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
266
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.5
Top 32% nationally
Year over year
−6%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
99.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202460k59k
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. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.8%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
52%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,618
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$74,364
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Waukesha County, WI 4,625 people · 18% of arrivals
  2. Racine County, WI 1,401 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  3. Cook County, IL 1,387 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  4. Dane County, WI 918 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  5. Ozaukee County, WI 866 people · 3.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Waukesha County, WI 7,631 people · 24% of departures
  2. Racine County, WI 1,966 people · 6.2% of departures
  3. Ozaukee County, WI 1,489 people · 4.7% of departures
  4. Washington County, WI 1,300 people · 4.1% of departures
  5. Cook County, IL 1,073 people · 3.4% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Milwaukee County, WI. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025250115
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+60%).

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 about 6 days a year pass 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, 7.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year652024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals34.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals48.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals17°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year62024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals49°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
65
90th percentile index
Days above 100
6
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. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

98 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, inland flooding and tornado, with cold wave alone responsible for 52% of it. Every one of these is independently rated low or minimal nationally — this describes how a small risk is composed, not a large one.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 99% of measured US cities.

LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, tornado, inland flooding, winter weather, strong wind, hail, earthquake, ice storm, coastal flooding, landslide, wildfire, hurricane, drought, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity.

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.

Violent crime
183
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,713
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

West Allis's police department reported 183 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,713.

Milwaukee County records 18.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 24.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 35.0 per 100,000 residents in Milwaukee County.

Homicide
18.7
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
24.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
35.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.4
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by West Allis’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around West Allis (Milwaukee County) rather than West Allis itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld at 67 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year89.9%Top 49%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle67 miBottom 6%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.1%Bottom 47%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN67 mi9,006 ft
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD71 mi11,245 ft
Wittman RgnlOSH73 mi8,002 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
64
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Other cities in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
MilwaukeeMilwaukee County566,97351Milwaukee vs West Allis
WaukeshaWaukesha County71,23370Waukesha vs West Allis
WauwatosaMilwaukee County48,52971Wauwatosa vs West Allis
BrookfieldWaukesha County41,27373
New BerlinWaukesha County40,27072
Menomonee FallsWaukesha County39,53977
GreenfieldMilwaukee County37,34561
Oak CreekMilwaukee County37,32571
FranklinMilwaukee County35,88672
West BendWashington County32,03070
MuskegoWaukesha County25,40672
MequonOzaukee County25,27075

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.

Compare

Put West Allis side by side with a similar place.

West Allis vs South MilwaukeeWest Allis vs Greenfield

Moving to West Allis from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in West Allis

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in West Allis with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track West Allis closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
5321434,480$60,962$188,300—
5322722,885$73,321$225,90065