Neighborhood · Ranked #21,564 of 84,120 nationally
Westlawn Eviction Risk: Moderate , Milwaukee
Tract 55079003000 ·
Milwaukee County, WI · pop 4,110 · neighborhood within 0.8 mi
55079003000 is a census tract in the Westlawn area of Milwaukee, WI. It scores 5.7/10 for landlords. Population here is 4,110. SNAP participation runs 38.9% against 15.2% nationally.
Risk score
5.7
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 25%Stable renters 16%Owners 59%
Tract context
Occupied units1,226
Renter share40.6%
SVI overall0.79
Poverty rate26.3%
Median income$58,942
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
36th percentile
#10 of 15 tracts In Westlawn
Low
Within parent city
55th percentile
#96 of 210 tracts In Milwaukee
Moderate
Within county
68th percentile
#97 of 301 tracts In Milwaukee County
Elevated
Within state
91th percentile
#136 of 1,528 tracts In Wisconsin
Very High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Milwaukee and the region
Centroid at 43.1085, -87.9962 · click any tract to drill in
Why Westlawn scores 5.7
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
26.3% poverty · this tract
6.6
Supply constraint
$1,254 rent vs county FMR
5.0
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 Westlawn compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 79
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
81%Socioeconomic
77%Household composition
92%Racial/ethnic minority
49%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
99%Grade C
1%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)
629Total filings over 13 yrs
12.84%Avg annual filing rate
15.0%Peak (2017)
82Filings in 2017 (latest validated)
Filings by year2003 to 2017
Filings climbed 141% over the past 13 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
289Total filings 2020-21
3.8Avg monthly (observed)
4.3Pre-pandemic baseline
0.87×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.
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
25.3%Housing insecurity
16.1%Utility-shutoff threat
33.7%Food insecurity
38.9%SNAP enrollment
16.6%Transit barriers
12.0%No health insurance
19.6%Frequent mental distress
36.5%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Westlawn
61% of renter households cross the 30%-of-income line, markedly above the Milwaukee County average of 45.8%. Severe burden reaches 30%. Those are renters paying half their income or more, and that is where non-payment filings originate.
What pushes it up most is court filing pressure at 8.1/10. The poverty rate is 26%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than filing counts suggest. On the high side, local political climate reads 7.5/10.
Housing insecurity runs 25.3% against 14.2% nationally. It sits 1.2 points above the Milwaukee County average of 4.5. Average gross rent is $1,254, 18% above the Milwaukee average.
Running cool, rent-regulation exposure reads 2.5/10. Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 629 filings here across 13 tracked years. The worst year on record was 2017, when 15.0% of renter households were served.
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 12.8% of renter households face a filing. That is riskier than roughly 74% of the 84,120 US census tracts in this model.
All figures here are ACS 5-year estimates for this tract, refreshed as the underlying releases land.
Frequently asked
About tract 55079003000
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 55079003000?
Census tract 55079003000 in the Westlawn neighborhood scores 5.7/10 (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 55079003000?
Median gross rent is $1,254/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 61% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 55079003000?
26.3% of residents in tract 55079003000 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,110.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 55079003000?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 79th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 81th, household 77th, minority 92th, housing 49th.
Q5
Is tract 55079003000 considered part of Westlawn?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 55079003000 fall within Westlawn (neighborhood centroid within 0.8 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 55079003000?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 629 eviction filings across 13 validated years in tract 55079003000 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 12.84% of renter households, peaking at 15.0% in 2017. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 55079003000 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.87× 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 55079003000 struggle to pay rent?
About 25.3% 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. 16.1% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 55079003000 compare to Milwaukee overall?
Tract 55079003000 scores 5.7/10, 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 55079003000 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. 1% 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.