Neighborhood · Ranked #20,506 of 84,120 nationally
Riverwest Eviction Risk: Moderate , Milwaukee
Tract 55079004400 ·
Milwaukee County, WI · pop 2,357 · neighborhood within 1.3 mi
With a score of 5.8/10, tract 55079004400 in the Riverwest area of Milwaukee, WI reads moderate for landlord eviction risk. It is home to 2,357 residents. SNAP participation runs 35.8% against 15.2% nationally.
Risk score
5.8
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 47%Stable renters 38%Owners 15%
Tract context
Occupied units1,278
Renter share85.1%
SVI overall0.73
Poverty rate26.4%
Median income$35,815
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
50th percentile
#1 of 1 tracts In Riverwest
Moderate
Within parent city
61th percentile
#83 of 210 tracts In Milwaukee
Elevated
Within county
69th percentile
#93 of 301 tracts In Milwaukee County
Elevated
Within state
98th percentile
#29 of 1,528 tracts In Wisconsin
Very High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Milwaukee and the region
Centroid at 43.0911, -87.9060 · click any tract to drill in
Why Riverwest scores 5.8
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
26.4% poverty · this tract
6.6
Supply constraint
$925 rent vs county FMR
2.4
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 Riverwest compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 73
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
77%Socioeconomic
31%Household composition
83%Racial/ethnic minority
72%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
31%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)
1,447Total filings over 13 yrs
9.64%Avg annual filing rate
14.1%Peak (2008)
113Filings in 2017 (latest validated)
Filings by year2003 to 2017
Filings climbed 26% over the past 13 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
397Total filings 2020-21
5.2Avg monthly (observed)
8.9Pre-pandemic baseline
0.58×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–20212020-01-01 to 2026-05-01
Pandemic filings ran far below baseline (moratorium effect). Eviction Lab tracked Milwaukee, WI as part of its 34-metro Eviction Tracking System.
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.
23.5%Housing insecurity
15.2%Utility-shutoff threat
30.8%Food insecurity
35.8%SNAP enrollment
15.9%Transit barriers
11.5%No health insurance
20.0%Frequent mental distress
34.6%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Riverwest
This is renter territory: 85% of occupied units are tenant-occupied. The dominant input is court filing pressure at 8.1/10. The severe-burden share is 18%, and it is the single best predictor in this model of a filing that actually reaches judgment.
55% of renter households cross the 30%-of-income line, above the Milwaukee County average of 45.8%. The poverty rate is 26%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than filing counts suggest.
Food insecurity runs 30.8% against 17.8% nationally. On the softer side, supply constraint reads 2.4/10. Against the Milwaukee County average of 4.5, this tract reads riskier for landlords by 1.3 points.
Sitting well above the midpoint, local political climate reads 7.5/10. The filing record is not thin: 1,447 evictions over 13 years of observation.
Average gross rent is $925, 13% below the Milwaukee average. The worst year on record was 2008, when 14.1% of renter households were served. This ground was mapped C ("Definitely Declining") 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.
All figures here are ACS 5-year estimates for this tract, refreshed as the underlying releases land.
Frequently asked
About tract 55079004400
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 55079004400?
Census tract 55079004400 in the Riverwest neighborhood scores 5.8/10 (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 55079004400?
Median gross rent is $925/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 55% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 55079004400?
26.4% of residents in tract 55079004400 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,357.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 55079004400?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 73th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 77th, household 31th, minority 83th, housing 72th.
Q5
Is tract 55079004400 considered part of Riverwest?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 55079004400 fall within Riverwest (neighborhood centroid within 1.3 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 55079004400?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 1,447 eviction filings across 13 validated years in tract 55079004400 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 9.64% of renter households, peaking at 14.1% in 2008. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 55079004400 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.58× the pre-COVID monthly baseline. Filings dropped sharply, likely a moratorium effect. Tracked by the Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Milwaukee eviction risk, WI), 2020-2021.
Q8
What share of households in tract 55079004400 struggle to pay rent?
About 23.5% 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. 15.2% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 55079004400 compare to Milwaukee overall?
Tract 55079004400 scores 5.8/10, 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 55079004400 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.