Neighborhood · Ranked #37,882 of 84,120 nationally
Downer Avenue Eviction Risk: Moderate , Milwaukee
Tract 55079007200 ·
Milwaukee County, WI · pop 2,731 · neighborhood within 1.3 mi
Tract 55079007200 sits in the Downer Avenue area of Milwaukee eviction risk, WI, carrying an eviction-risk score of 4.7/10. 22% are severely burdened past the 50% mark. That cohort absorbs no shock: one repair bill or one cut shift converts straight into arrears.
Risk score
4.7
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 25%Stable renters 29%Owners 46%
Tract context
Occupied units1,492
Renter share54.2%
SVI overall0.65
Poverty rate16.4%
Median income$59,403
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
43th percentile
#5 of 8 tracts In Downer Avenue
Moderate
Within parent city
37th percentile
#133 of 210 tracts In Milwaukee
Low
Within county
54th percentile
#140 of 301 tracts In Milwaukee County
Moderate
Within state
77th percentile
#357 of 1,528 tracts In Wisconsin
High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Milwaukee and the region
Centroid at 43.0774, -87.8983 · click any tract to drill in
Why Downer Avenue scores 4.7
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
16.4% poverty · this tract
4.1
Supply constraint
$1,058 rent vs county FMR
3.4
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 Downer Avenue compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 65
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
61%Socioeconomic
20%Household composition
54%Racial/ethnic minority
89%Housing & transportation
Historical context · 1930s redlining
HOLC grade: D: Hazardous (Redlined)
This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade D meant Black, immigrant, and poor neighborhoods systematically denied mortgage credit. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.
0%Grade A
47%Grade B
0%Grade C
48%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)
298Total filings over 13 yrs
2.79%Avg annual filing rate
4.4%Peak (2003)
17Filings in 2017 (latest validated)
Filings by year2003 to 2017
Filings dropped 53% over the past 13 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
104Total filings 2020-21
1.4Avg monthly (observed)
1.4Pre-pandemic baseline
0.98×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–20212020-01-01 to 2026-05-01
Pandemic filings ran below baseline. Eviction Lab tracked Milwaukee, WI as part of its 34-metro Eviction Tracking System.
Comparable tracts
Census tracts with similar eviction risk
Within Downer Avenue. Closest by Eviction Risk Score.
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
12.3%Housing insecurity
7.4%Utility-shutoff threat
15.3%Food insecurity
16.9%SNAP enrollment
8.5%Transit barriers
8.5%No health insurance
16.7%Frequent mental distress
27.4%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Downer Avenue
The dominant input is court filing pressure at 8.1/10. Running hot, local political climate reads 7.5/10. Well under the midpoint, rent-regulation exposure reads 2.5/10.
Court records carry 298 eviction filings across 13 observed years. Filings peaked in 2003 at 4.4% of renter households. This ground was mapped D ("Hazardous") 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 2.8% of renter households face a filing. That is riskier than roughly 55% of the 84,120 US census tracts in this model. CDC social-vulnerability scoring puts the tract at 6.9/10.
Statewide the WI average is 3.9, so this tract runs 0.8 points hotter. Of its three components the housing type and transport measure is the most pressured.
All figures here are ACS 5-year estimates for this tract, refreshed as the underlying releases land.
Frequently asked
About tract 55079007200
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 55079007200?
Census tract 55079007200 in the Downer Avenue neighborhood scores 4.7/10 (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 55079007200?
Median gross rent is $1,058/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 46% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 55079007200?
16.4% of residents in tract 55079007200 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,731.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 55079007200?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 65th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 61th, household 20th, minority 54th, housing 89th.
Q5
Is tract 55079007200 considered part of Downer Avenue?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 55079007200 fall within Downer Avenue (neighborhood centroid within 1.3 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 55079007200?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 298 eviction filings across 13 validated years in tract 55079007200 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 2.79% of renter households, peaking at 4.4% in 2003. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 55079007200 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.98× the pre-COVID monthly baseline. Filings ran modestly below normal. Tracked by the Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Milwaukee eviction risk, WI), 2020-2021.
Q8
What share of households in tract 55079007200 struggle to pay rent?
About 12.3% 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. 7.4% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 55079007200 compare to Milwaukee overall?
Tract 55079007200 scores 4.7/10, 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 55079007200 historically redlined?
Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of D. 48% 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.