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Neighborhood · Milwaukee, WI

Polonia Eviction Risk: Moderate

1 census tracts · pop 3,033 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 4.4/10 · range 4.4–4.4

Polonia is a one-tract quarter of Milwaukee, WI, population 3,033. The Eviction Risk Score is 4.4/10, in the Moderate tier. 28.5% of adults carry no health insurance against 11.3% nationally, a common route into sudden unpayable debt.

The main counterweight is supply constraint, at 2/10. Food insecurity affects 31.9% of adults, 14.1 points above the national rate. Running cool is rent-regulation exposure, at 2.5/10.

Rent consumes at least 30% of income for roughly one in three of renter households. At $886 a month, rents sit 16% under what the rest of Milwaukee commands. The filing record is not thin: 596 evictions logged in this tract.

On the softer side is economic stress, at 2.8/10. The worst year on record was 2011, when filings touched 7.5% of renter households.

Recent filings have not receded much: 8.6% in 2017 against a 7.5% peak. That places it #32 of 53 neighborhoods in Milwaukee.

For a like-for-like read, Graceland and Dineen Park score within a fraction of it. Social vulnerability runs high at 7.7/10, concentrating the disaster- and displacement-exposure this model treats as a lagging risk input.

Because the boundary contains one tract, 4.4/10 is simultaneously the area figure and the address-level figure. The number is rebuilt whenever its ACS, court-record, or statutory inputs change.

Risk score
4.4
Moderate
1 tracts · population-weighted
Polonia vs Milwaukee How this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
% of income on rent
32.3% +6%
Milwaukee: 30.5%
Average gross rent
$886 -16%
Milwaukee: $1,059
Average HH income
$49,327 -5%
Milwaukee: $51,888
Poverty rate
11.0% -53%
Milwaukee: 23.3%
Renter share
51.7% -11%
Milwaukee: 58.2%
Peer neighborhoods

Neighborhoods with similar eviction risk

Same county, closest by Eviction Risk Score.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Polonia and the region

Click any tract to drill in · 1 tracts span score 4.4–4.4

Why Polonia scores 4.4

9 axes · pop-weighted · 1 = landlord-friendly
State political climate
legislature & governorship · Range 2.9–2.9 across tracts
2.9
Regional political climate
County-level mix · 2024 presidential margin · Range 7.0–7.0 across tracts
7.0
Local political climate
Parent city governance · Range 7.5–7.5 across tracts
7.5
Rent control risk
32% of income on rent · Range 2.5–2.5 across tracts
2.5
Eviction process difficulty
State notice requirements & court backlog · Range 5.5–5.5 across tracts
5.5
Tenant organizing strength
52% renter households · Range 6.0–6.0 across tracts
6.0
Housing court bias
County bench composition · Range 5.5–5.5 across tracts
5.5
Economic stress
11.0% below poverty line · Range 2.8–2.8 across tracts
2.8
Supply constraint
Rent-to-FMR gap & zoning friction · Range 2.0–2.0 across tracts
2.0
Risk score comparison

Polonia vs. parent city, state, U.S.

Eviction Risk Score (0–10 scale).

Polonia score vs. parent city, state, U.S.Polonia: 4.44.4PoloniaNeighborhoodParent city: 4.44.4Parent cityhost cityState: 3.93.9Stateavg in stateU.S.: 5.15.1U.S.national avgU.S. avg = 5.0
Census tracts

1 tracts in Polonia

Ranked highest-risk first. Click for per-tract detail.

Tract Score Pop % over 30% on rent Average rent
55079018700 4.4 3,033 32% $886
Social Vulnerability Index

CDC SVI percentile: 75

Pop-weighted across 1 tracts. Higher = more vulnerable to disaster, displacement, and rent shocks. Source: CDC/ATSDR SVI 2022.

Socioeconomic status 75%ile
Poverty, unemployment, no-HS-diploma, housing cost burden
Household characteristics 78%ile
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority 89%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport 44%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab

Court-record eviction history in Polonia

Aggregated across 1 validated constituent tract. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.

Historic baseline (2000–2018)

  • 596Total filings (sum)
  • 6.31%Avg annual filing rate
  • 7.5%Peak year (2011)
  • 8.58%Latest filed (2017)

Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)

  • 256Total filings 2020-21
  • 3.3Avg monthly observed
  • 3.8Pre-pandemic baseline
  • 0.89×Ratio to baseline

Pandemic filings ran below baseline. Tracked under Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Milwaukee, WI).

CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted

Eviction-adjacent indicators in Polonia

Average across all constituent tracts, population-weighted. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh) crude prevalence.

Frequently asked

About Polonia

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for Polonia?

Polonia scores 4.4/10 (Moderate tier) across 1 census tracts. The pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income and poverty signals.
Q2

How does Polonia compare to Milwaukee overall?

Polonia scores 0.0 points higher than Milwaukee overall (4.4/10). Renters spend 32% of income on rent vs 31% citywide. Average rent: $886 vs $1,059.
Q3

What is the average rent in Polonia?

Average gross rent in Polonia is $886/month (pop-weighted across 1 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 32% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4

What percentage of Polonia residents are renters?

52% of Polonia households are renter-occupied (vs 58% in Milwaukee). The neighborhood has 3,033 residents.
Q5

Is Polonia a high social-vulnerability area?

Polonia sits in the 75th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (highly vulnerable). The index combines poverty, unemployment, household composition, racial/ethnic minority share, and housing/transportation factors across all US census tracts.
Q6

How safe is Polonia for landlords?

Polonia carries a moderate-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (4.4/10). Pop-weighted across 1 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Milwaukee as a whole (4.4/10), this neighborhood is in line with the citywide level.
Q7

What is the demographic breakdown of Polonia?

Polonia has 2,972 residents. Top groups: Hispanic / Latino (80%), White (non-Hispanic) (10.5%), Asian (non-Hispanic) (5%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
Nearby

Other neighborhoods near Polonia

Sibling neighborhoods

Other neighborhoods inside Milwaukee

Same parent city, ranked by score similarity to Polonia.

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