Neighborhood · Ranked #20,506 of 84,120 nationally
Westlawn Eviction Risk: Moderate , Milwaukee
Tract 55079001600 ·
Milwaukee County, WI · pop 2,791 · neighborhood within 1.4 mi
Census tract 55079001600 covers part of the Westlawn area of Milwaukee, WI, and scores 5.8/10 on landlord eviction risk. It is home to 2,791 residents. Severe burden reaches 38%. Those are renters paying half their income or more, and that is where non-payment filings originate.
Risk score
5.8
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 39%Stable renters 26%Owners 35%
Tract context
Occupied units997
Renter share65.0%
SVI overall0.83
Poverty rate23.0%
Median income$36,214
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
64th percentile
#6 of 15 tracts In Westlawn
Elevated
Within parent city
58th percentile
#89 of 210 tracts In Milwaukee
Elevated
Within county
76th percentile
#74 of 301 tracts In Milwaukee County
High
Within state
98th percentile
#29 of 1,528 tracts In Wisconsin
Very High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Milwaukee and the region
Centroid at 43.1159, -88.0160 · click any tract to drill in
Why Westlawn scores 5.8
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Milwaukee
7.5
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
7.0
State political climate
Wisconsin legislature & governorship
2.9
Economic stress
23.0% poverty · this tract
5.8
Supply constraint
$1,120 rent vs county FMR
3.9
Rent control risk
Inherited from Milwaukee
2.5
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
5.5
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Milwaukee
6.0
Housing court bias
Inherited from Milwaukee
5.5
How Westlawn compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 83
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
94%Socioeconomic
42%Household composition
94%Racial/ethnic minority
61%Housing & transportation
Historical context · 1930s redlining
HOLC grade: C: Definitely Declining
This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade C meant mixed-race / working-class neighborhoods rated as risky. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.
0%Grade A
0%Grade B
0%Grade C
0%Grade D · redlined
Source: Mapping Inequality (americanpanorama.org), 1935-1940 HOLC residential security maps, aggregated to 2020 census tracts by area share. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Eviction filings
Court-record eviction history
Court-validated eviction filings collected from county clerks and consolidated by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households.1
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
1,997Total filings over 13 yrs
29.85%Avg annual filing rate
39.9%Peak (2014)
190Filings in 2017 (latest validated)
Filings by year2003 to 2017
Filings climbed 184% over the past 13 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
629Total filings 2020-21
8.2Avg monthly (observed)
13.3Pre-pandemic baseline
0.61×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–20212020-01-01 to 2026-05-01
Pandemic filings ran far below baseline (moratorium effect). Eviction Lab tracked Milwaukee, WI as part of its 34-metro Eviction Tracking System.
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
30.0%Housing insecurity
21.0%Utility-shutoff threat
40.8%Food insecurity
49.5%SNAP enrollment
20.4%Transit barriers
12.7%No health insurance
21.6%Frequent mental distress
38.7%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Westlawn
SNAP participation runs 49.5% against 15.2% nationally. 60% of renter households cross the 30%-of-income line, well above the Milwaukee County average of 45.8%.
Set annual rent against average income of $36,214 and the ratio lands at 37%, above the conventional 30% ceiling. The score leans hardest on court filing pressure at 8.1/10.
Against the Milwaukee County average of 4.5, this tract reads riskier for landlords by 1.3 points. Inability to pay a utility bill runs 21.0% against 9.2% nationally. Utility arrears usually lead rent arrears by a month or two. The poverty rate is 23%, which in this model reads as reduced rent-recovery odds after a judgment.
Running hot, local political climate reads 7.5/10. Running cool, rent-regulation exposure reads 2.5/10.
Court records carry 1,997 eviction filings across 13 observed years. The worst year on record was 2014, when 39.9% of renter households were served.
This ground was mapped C ("Definitely Declining") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Milwaukee Co. That grading determined who could get a mortgage, and its imprint on tenure and rent burden is still visible in the ACS data above. In a typical year about 29.8% of renter households face a filing. Nationally it ranks #20,506 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty.
All figures here are ACS 5-year estimates for this tract, refreshed as the underlying releases land.
Frequently asked
About tract 55079001600
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 55079001600?
Census tract 55079001600 in the Westlawn neighborhood scores 5.8/10 (Moderate tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.
Q2
What is the average rent in tract 55079001600?
Median gross rent is $1,120/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 60% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 55079001600?
23.0% of residents in tract 55079001600 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,791.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 55079001600?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 83th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 94th, household 42th, minority 94th, housing 61th.
Q5
Is tract 55079001600 considered part of Westlawn?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 55079001600 fall within Westlawn (neighborhood centroid within 1.4 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 55079001600?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 1,997 eviction filings across 13 validated years in tract 55079001600 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 29.85% of renter households, peaking at 39.9% in 2014. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 55079001600 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.61× the pre-COVID monthly baseline. Filings dropped sharply, likely a moratorium effect. Tracked by the Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Milwaukee eviction risk, WI), 2020-2021.
Q8
What share of households in tract 55079001600 struggle to pay rent?
About 30.0% of adults in this tract reported housing insecurity (could not pay rent or mortgage in the past 12 months), per the CDC PLACES 2023 model-based small-area estimate. 21.0% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 55079001600 compare to Milwaukee overall?
Tract 55079001600 scores 5.8/10, higher than the parent city of Milwaukee at 4.4/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Milwaukee eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q10
Was tract 55079001600 historically redlined?
Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of C. 0% of the tract's area was rated D ("Hazardous"), the redlined tier. HOLC redlining systematically denied mortgage credit to Black, immigrant, and working-class neighborhoods and remains a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings, rent burden, and homeownership gaps. Source: Mapping Inequality (americanpanorama.org), Robert K. Nelson et al.
Sibling tracts
Highest-risk tracts in Milwaukee
Top eight tracts in Milwaukee ranked by composite eviction-risk score.