Within neighborhood
0
th percentile
Very Low
Neighborhood · Ranked #67,219 of 84,120 nationally
Historic Water Tower Neighborhood Eviction Risk: Lower , Milwaukee
Tract 55079186900 · Milwaukee County, WI · pop 2,382 · neighborhood within 0.2 mi
55079186900 is a census tract in the Historic Water Tower Neighborhood area of Milwaukee, WI. It scores 3/10 for landlords. Population here is 2,382. The score leans hardest on supply constraint at 9.9/10.
Risk score
3
Lower
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 29%
Stable renters 41%
Owners 30%
Tract context
Occupied units1,625
Renter share70.1%
SVI overall0.25
Poverty rate6.7%
Median income$93,064
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
2
th percentile
Very Low
Within county
13
th percentile
Very Low
Within state
29
th percentile
Low
Geographic context
Risk heat across Milwaukee and the region
Centroid at 43.0558, -87.8828 · click any tract to drill in
Why Historic Water Tower Neighborhood scores 3
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal 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
6.7% poverty · this tract
1.7
Supply constraint
$1,867 rent vs county FMR
9.9
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 Historic Water Tower Neighborhood compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 25
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 18%Socioeconomic
- 6%Household composition
- 37%Racial/ethnic minority
- 73%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
- 22%Grade C
- 2%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)
- 107Total filings over 13 yrs
- 2.39%Avg annual filing rate
- 9.2%Peak (2003)
- 17Filings in 2017 (latest validated)
Filings stayed roughly flat over the past 13 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 111Total filings 2020-21
- 1.4Avg monthly (observed)
- 0.4Pre-pandemic baseline
- 3.85×Ratio to baseline
Pandemic filings ran above baseline. Eviction Lab tracked Milwaukee, WI as part of its 34-metro Eviction Tracking System.
Comparable tracts
Census tracts with similar eviction risk
Within Historic Water Tower Neighborhood. Closest by Eviction Risk Score.
CDC PLACES 2023 · health & economic stress
Eviction-adjacent indicators
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
- 4.1%Housing insecurity
- 2.3%Utility-shutoff threat
- 4.7%Food insecurity
- 4.1%SNAP enrollment
- 3.5%Transit barriers
- 4.3%No health insurance
- 10.9%Frequent mental distress
- 24.0%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Historic Water Tower Neighborhood
Average gross rent is $1,867, 76% above the Milwaukee average. The voucher gap is 48.5%: households holding assistance that local rents will not absorb, which surfaces as churn rather than arrears.
The severe-burden share is 24%, and it is the single best predictor in this model of a filing that actually reaches judgment. 70% of occupied units are rented, so comparables are plentiful and vacancy risk is low, but a mispriced renewal loses the tenant to a building nearby. Well under the midpoint, economic stress reads 1.7/10.
It sits 1.5 points below the Milwaukee County average of 4.5. Food insecurity runs 4.7% against 17.8% nationally. On the high side, court filing pressure reads 8.1/10.
Against Milwaukee County at 45.8%, 41% of renters here are cost-burdened. Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 107 filings here across 13 tracked years.
Adults with no health insurance runs 4.3% against 11.3% nationally. The worst year on record was 2003, when 9.2% of renter households were served.
All figures here are ACS 5-year estimates for this tract, refreshed as the underlying releases land.
Frequently asked
About tract 55079186900
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 55079186900?
Census tract 55079186900 in the Historic Water Tower Neighborhood neighborhood scores 3/10 (Lower 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 55079186900?
Median gross rent is $1,867/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 41% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 55079186900?
6.7% of residents in tract 55079186900 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,382.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 55079186900?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 25th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 18th, household 6th, minority 37th, housing 73th.
Q5
Is tract 55079186900 considered part of Historic Water Tower Neighborhood?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 55079186900 fall within Historic Water Tower Neighborhood (neighborhood centroid within 0.2 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 55079186900?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 107 eviction filings across 13 validated years in tract 55079186900 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 2.39% of renter households, peaking at 9.2% in 2003. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 55079186900 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 3.85× the pre-COVID monthly baseline. Filings ran above pre-pandemic norms. Tracked by the Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Milwaukee eviction risk, WI), 2020-2021.
Q8
What share of households in tract 55079186900 struggle to pay rent?
About 4.1% 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. 2.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 55079186900 compare to Milwaukee overall?
Tract 55079186900 scores 3/10, lower 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 55079186900 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. 2% 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.
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5.8
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5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
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5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
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5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
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5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
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