akashic
1876–2024
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI·Wisconsin

Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI delivered D+9 in 2024.

A metro where a dense Democratic core and sprawling Republican suburbs set statewide margins

1876 — 2024·38 elections
WI
Latest
D+9
in 2024
Archetype
Bellwether
since the recent cycles
Population
1,568,938
2024 ACS

Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted D+9%. Democratic peak: D+53 in 1936.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
D+9MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
BellwetherAkashic typology
Population
1,568,9382024 5-year
Median household income
$80,0982024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
65.9%2024 5-year
Black
15.9%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
12.1%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+53 in 1936MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+37 in 1920MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
4 counties · 1 D · 3 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
D
+9.4%
481,148396,898894,773
D
+9.8%
474,600388,280877,275
D
+7.2%
409,068350,816809,963
D
+5.2%
453,542408,564870,991
D
+9.2%
451,456374,498835,865
R
−1.3%
410,227420,758838,098
R
−2.6%
349,793368,913746,434
D
+7.3%
304,397259,043624,580
D
+3.1%
311,009288,319737,661
D
+7.3%
354,453306,057664,789
R
−1.1%
330,188337,893672,146
D
+0.2%
310,509309,093677,660
D
+3.4%
322,919301,041643,060
R
−3.2%
264,312282,370566,766
D
+4.0%
253,324232,173531,990
D
+26.4%
349,453203,236553,802
D
+9.8%
302,421248,300551,874
R
−17.0%
201,368284,440489,171
R
−8.4%
228,911271,006502,156
D
+10.7%
210,243167,738395,633
D
+12.4%
225,739175,019408,326
D
+17.3%
231,065161,260403,243
D
+52.6%
249,21769,106342,162
D
+43.8%
198,02966,622300,142
D
+11.3%
128,205100,744242,962
O
−24.2%
18,04760,758176,519
R
−36.7%
30,38691,547166,816
D
+7.4%
43,31336,10197,353
D
+14.3%
35,52523,13986,335
R
−3.9%
33,68737,18790,458
R
−19.4%
24,99741,89186,963
R
−12.8%
33,12843,81183,196
R
−14.2%
34,07945,76282,220
D
+3.7%
32,96030,55465,737
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
31.0%
Polish
9.5%
Irish
9.4%
English
5.2%
Italian
4.3%
American
2.7%
French
2.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 38.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.7%
85+
1.4%
2.1%
75–84
2.6%
4.9%
65–74
5.4%
6.3%
55–64
6.6%
5.8%
45–54
5.9%
6.5%
35–44
6.7%
6.8%
25–34
7.0%
4.3%
18–24
4.3%
8.5%
5–17
8.2%
3.0%
<5
2.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$80,098
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI ranks near the middle of US counties.
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI$80,098
Wisconsin$77,485
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.3%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.1%
Working age (18–64)11.0%
Seniors (65+)12.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
86.3%
speak English only
Spanish8.0%
Other Indo-European2.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.3%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
25.0%
Mainline Protestant
10.3%
Other Christian
8.9%
Non-Christian
4.1%
Pentecostal & Holiness
2.9%
Baptist
2.9%
Methodist
1.0%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 44.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Milwaukee County's high-density wards regularly post some of the Midwest's largest Democratic vote shares, while Waukesha County anchors a suburban conservative belt that has consistently outpaced it in raw turnout—leaving statewide races to hinge on which side closes the gap.

The Democratic margin in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI has rarely exceeded fifty-three points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded thirty-seven points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Democratic candidate by nine points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 66% non-Hispanic-white share, a 12% poverty rate, and a median household income of $80,098 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/33340/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin vote in 2024?
In 2024, Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin voted Democratic by 9.4 points (D+9), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 894,773 votes cast, 481,148 went Democratic and 396,898 went Republican.
What is Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 22 times, Republican 11 times, and other 1 times.
When did Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin voted Republican was 2004.
How many people live in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin?
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin has a population of 1,568,938 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin?
Median household income in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin is $80,098 — below the national median of $80,734. The Wisconsin state median is $77,485.
What is the political history of Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 22 went Democratic and 11 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.