Within neighborhood
71
th percentile
Elevated
Neighborhood · Ranked #18,240 of 84,120 nationally
Downer Avenue Eviction Risk: Moderate , Milwaukee
Tract 55079080400 · Milwaukee County, WI · pop 3,568 · neighborhood within 1.5 mi
Downer Avenue in Milwaukee is where census tract 55079080400 sits, home to 3,568 residents. Its landlord eviction-risk score is 6.6/10. It lands near the 88th percentile nationally for landlord eviction risk.
Rent eats 30% or more of income for 49% of renter households, a severe level, and 24% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $1,208 a month against an average household income of $53,261 a year, roughly 27% of income at the averages. Renters make up 68% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.
Risk score
5.5
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 33%
Stable renters 35%
Owners 32%
Tract context
Occupied units1,957
Renter share68.0%
SVI overall0.40
Poverty rate26.1%
Median income$53,261
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
100
th percentile
Very High
Within county
68
th percentile
Elevated
Within state
91
th percentile
Very High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Milwaukee and the region
Centroid at 43.0859, -87.8885 · click any tract to drill in
Why Downer Avenue scores 5.5
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal political climate
Inherited from Milwaukee
7.3
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
7.0
State political climate
Wisconsin legislature & governorship
2.9
Economic stress
26.1% poverty · this tract
6.5
Supply constraint
$1,208 rent vs county FMR
4.6
Rent control risk
Inherited from Milwaukee
4.6
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
2.7
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Milwaukee
9.3
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: 40
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 43%Socioeconomic
- 57%Household composition
- 32%Racial/ethnic minority
- 32%Housing & transportation
Historical context · 1930s redlining
HOLC grade: B: Still Desirable
This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade B meant middle-class areas with mortgage access. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.
- 0%Grade A
- 82%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)
- 42Total filings over 11 yrs
- 0.31%Avg annual filing rate
- 0.6%Peak (2003)
- 8Filings in 2017 (latest validated)
Filings stayed roughly flat over the past 13 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 55Total filings 2020-21
- 0.7Avg monthly (observed)
- 0.3Pre-pandemic baseline
- 2.86×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 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.
- 7.3%Housing insecurity
- 4.5%Utility-shutoff threat
- 9.9%Food insecurity
- 10.5%SNAP enrollment
- 6.1%Transit barriers
- 5.9%No health insurance
- 14.1%Frequent mental distress
- 27.5%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Downer Avenue
The score leans hardest on tenant organizing strength at 9.3/10. That part comes from the wider legal climate rather than the tract itself. Statewide and court-level factors such as eviction-process speed and rent-control exposure are inherited from Milwaukee eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.
Set against its neighbors, this tract scores above the Milwaukee County average of 6.0 and above the Wisconsin statewide average of 4.6. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.
In CDC survey modeling, about 7.3% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 4.5% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.
Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 42 eviction filings here over 11 tracked years, with about 0.3% of renter households facing a filing in a typical year. Filings peaked at 0.6% of renter households in 2003.
For a landlord, this is a tract where process discipline pays off. Clean paperwork and steady screening keep the elevated risk manageable.
Frequently asked
About tract 55079080400
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 55079080400?
Census tract 55079080400 in the Downer Avenue neighborhood scores 5.5/10 (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 55079080400?
Median gross rent is $1,208/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 49% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 55079080400?
26.1% of residents in tract 55079080400 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,568.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 55079080400?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 40th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 43th, household 57th, minority 32th, housing 32th.
Q5
Is tract 55079080400 considered part of Downer Avenue?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 55079080400 fall within Downer Avenue (neighborhood centroid within 1.5 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 55079080400?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 42 eviction filings across 11 validated years in tract 55079080400 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 0.31% of renter households, peaking at 0.6% in 2003. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 55079080400 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 2.86× 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 55079080400 struggle to pay rent?
About 7.3% 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. 4.5% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 55079080400 compare to Milwaukee overall?
Tract 55079080400 scores 5.5/10, higher than the parent city of Milwaukee at 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 55079080400 historically redlined?
Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of B. 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.
Related