Within neighborhood
57
th percentile
Elevated
Neighborhood · Ranked #35,669 of 84,120 nationally
Downer Avenue Eviction Risk: Moderate , Milwaukee
Tract 55079007600 · Milwaukee County, WI · pop 3,450 · neighborhood within 0.2 mi
Census tract 55079007600 covers part of the Downer Avenue area of Milwaukee, WI, and scores 4.8/10 on landlord eviction risk. It is home to 3,450 residents. The severe-burden share is 28%, and it is the single best predictor in this model of a filing that actually reaches judgment.
Risk score
4.8
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 32%
Stable renters 49%
Owners 19%
Tract context
Occupied units1,668
Renter share80.4%
SVI overall0.53
Poverty rate17.1%
Median income$55,278
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
37
th percentile
Low
Within county
55
th percentile
Elevated
Within state
80
th percentile
High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Milwaukee and the region
Centroid at 43.0640, -87.8786 · click any tract to drill in
Why Downer Avenue scores 4.8
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
17.1% poverty · this tract
4.3
Supply constraint
$1,165 rent vs county FMR
4.3
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: 53
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 45%Socioeconomic
- 20%Household composition
- 30%Racial/ethnic minority
- 88%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
- 87%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)
- 212Total filings over 13 yrs
- 1.23%Avg annual filing rate
- 1.7%Peak (2015)
- 18Filings in 2017 (latest validated)
Filings stayed roughly flat over the past 13 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 91Total filings 2020-21
- 1.2Avg monthly (observed)
- 1.4Pre-pandemic baseline
- 0.86×Ratio to baseline
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.
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.
- 7.5%Housing insecurity
- 4.3%Utility-shutoff threat
- 10.1%Food insecurity
- 9.8%SNAP enrollment
- 6.7%Transit barriers
- 6.6%No health insurance
- 16.2%Frequent mental distress
- 27.5%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Downer Avenue
80% 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. The dominant input is court filing pressure at 8.1/10. On the high side, local political climate reads 7.5/10.
Against Milwaukee County at 45.8%, 40% of renters here are cost-burdened. Running cool, rent-regulation exposure reads 2.5/10. The filing record is not thin: 212 evictions over 13 years of observation.
Food insecurity runs 10.1% against 17.8% nationally. Average gross rent is $1,165, 10% above the Milwaukee average. Filings peaked in 2015 at 1.7% of renter households.
In the 1930s the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation graded this ground C ("Definitely Declining"). Redlining cut off mortgage credit to whole blocks for decades, and the areas graded D still carry measurably lower ownership and higher rent burden today. In a typical year about 1.2% of renter households face a filing.
That is riskier than roughly 58% of the 84,120 US census tracts in this model. On the CDC Social Vulnerability Index the tract reads 5.8/10, which tracks how hard a shock lands on the households already here.
Statewide the WI average is 3.9, so this tract runs 0.9 points hotter. Of its three components the housing type and transport measure is the most pressured.
These are ACS 5-year estimates; the score moves when the ACS, court-record, or statute inputs behind it move.
Frequently asked
About tract 55079007600
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 55079007600?
Census tract 55079007600 in the Downer Avenue neighborhood scores 4.8/10 (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 55079007600?
Median gross rent is $1,165/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 40% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 55079007600?
17.1% of residents in tract 55079007600 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,450.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 55079007600?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 53th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 45th, household 20th, minority 30th, housing 88th.
Q5
Is tract 55079007600 considered part of Downer Avenue?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 55079007600 fall within Downer Avenue (neighborhood centroid within 0.2 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 55079007600?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 212 eviction filings across 13 validated years in tract 55079007600 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 1.23% of renter households, peaking at 1.7% in 2015. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 55079007600 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.86× 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 55079007600 struggle to pay rent?
About 7.5% 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. 4.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 55079007600 compare to Milwaukee overall?
Tract 55079007600 scores 4.8/10, 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 55079007600 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.
Tract · WI
Cesar E. Chavez Drive
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · WI
Westlawn
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · WI
Bronzeville
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · WI
Capitol Heights
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · WI
West End
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · WI
Bronzeville
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · WI
Cesar E. Chavez Drive
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · WI
University Hill
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
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