AreaProfile

West Allis, Wisconsin

Area Profile

59,612 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for West Allis, in Milwaukee County.

73
Area Score
Top 16% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 32% of 1,567 published cities65
Growth847th of 1,503 published cities47
Housing affordabilityTop 5% of 1,876 published cities100
Climate1524th of 1,876 published cities61
Physical resilienceTop 1% of 1,849 published cities98
Access1765th of 1,876 published cities62
Economic stability985th of 1,876 published cities60
The quick read

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 18% of median household income.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing West Allis in the top 1% for physical resilience.

Its Area Score of 73 places West Allis in the top 16% of published city profiles.

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
Milwaukee County
Wisconsin
Metro area
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
Nearest major airport
MSN
67 mi · Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld
Median home value
$203,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8% is lower than 74% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 30,537 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,132$67,611Top 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,899$39,741Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.5%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.4 minBottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher29.6%Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment30,537Top 40%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.6%Bottom 39%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.4%Top 18%June 2026
Labor force31,740Top 40%June 2026
Labor force participation66.1%Top 30%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)-0.2%Bottom 35%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.8%Bottom 26%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/065.82.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.8% in June 2026.
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

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,007 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
17.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,007
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$203,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.01Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate55.5%Bottom 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±73330,294Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$43$1,007Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,213$203,800Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.9%Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.5%Bottom 36%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
47/ 100
Ranks 847 of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, 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 fallen 1% since 2020, reaching 59,784 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

99% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

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 34% 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.
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.

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
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
Seasonal temperature swing49°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

Physical risk

98 / 100
Physical resilience

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

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.

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.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 67 miles away.

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
73
Your Score

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Other cities in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
MilwaukeeMilwaukee County566,97360vs West Allis
WaukeshaWaukesha County71,23375vs West Allis
WauwatosaMilwaukee County48,52973vs West Allis
BrookfieldWaukesha County41,27373vs West Allis
New BerlinWaukesha County40,27073vs West Allis
Menomonee FallsWaukesha County39,53979vs West Allis
Oak CreekMilwaukee County37,32575vs West Allis
FranklinMilwaukee County35,88675vs West Allis
West BendWashington County32,03074vs West Allis
MuskegoWaukesha County25,40676vs West Allis
MequonOzaukee County25,27077vs West Allis

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)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 West Allis

2 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
5321434,480$60,96270
5322722,885$73,32173