Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in Wisconsin

Cities in Wisconsin by civilian labor force

Milwaukee, WI had the highest civilian labor force of 35 cities in 2021, at 274,178. Mequon, WI had the lowest, at 12,422. The median was 20,746. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest274,178Milwaukee, WI
Lowest12,422Mequon, WI
Median20,74635 cities

All cities, 2021

Milwaukee, WI: 274,178 personsMilwaukee, WI274,178Madison, WI: 162,325 personsMadison, WI162,325Green Bay, WI: 54,943 personsGreen Bay, WI54,943Kenosha, WI: 54,123 personsKenosha, WI54,123Waukesha, WI: 41,562 personsWaukesha, WI41,562Appleton, WI: 40,825 personsAppleton, WI40,825Eau Claire, WI: 39,331 personsEau Claire, WI39,331Racine, WI: 37,276 personsRacine, WI37,276Oshkosh, WI: 35,258 personsOshkosh, WI35,258Janesville, WI: 33,887 personsJanesville, WI33,887West Allis, WI: 31,920 personsWest Allis, WI31,920La Crosse, WI: 27,561 personsLa Crosse, WI27,561Sheboygan, WI: 26,214 personsSheboygan, WI26,214Wauwatosa, WI: 26,203 personsWauwatosa, WI26,203Fond du Lac, WI: 22,886 personsFond du Lac, WI22,886New Berlin, WI: 21,132 personsNew Berlin, WI21,132Oak Creek, WI: 21,098 personsOak Creek, WI21,098Sun Prairie, WI: 20,746 personsSun Prairie, WI20,746Wausau, WI: 20,436 personsWausau, WI20,436Menomonee Falls, WI: 20,282 personsMenomonee Falls, WI20,282Brookfield, WI: 20,173 personsBrookfield, WI20,173Greenfield, WI: 19,915 personsGreenfield, WI19,915Fitchburg, WI: 19,318 personsFitchburg, WI19,318Beloit, WI: 17,621 personsBeloit, WI17,621West Bend, WI: 17,516 personsWest Bend, WI17,516Franklin, WI: 17,469 personsFranklin, WI17,469Manitowoc, WI: 17,373 personsManitowoc, WI17,373Stevens Point, WI: 14,726 personsStevens Point, WI14,726Mount Pleasant, WI: 14,551 personsMount Pleasant, WI14,551Neenah, WI: 14,542 personsNeenah, WI14,542Superior, WI: 14,209 personsSuperior, WI14,209Muskego, WI: 13,971 personsMuskego, WI13,971De Pere, WI: 13,926 personsDe Pere, WI13,926Caledonia, WI: 12,838 personsCaledonia, WI12,838Mequon, WI: 12,422 personsMequon, WI12,422Milwaukee, WI: 274,178 personsMilwaukee, WI274,178Madison, WI: 162,325 personsMadison, WI162,325Green Bay, WI: 54,943 personsGreen Bay, WI54,943Kenosha, WI: 54,123 personsKenosha, WI54,123Waukesha, WI: 41,562 personsWaukesha, WI41,562Appleton, WI: 40,825 personsAppleton, WI40,825Eau Claire, WI: 39,331 personsEau Claire, WI39,331Racine, WI: 37,276 personsRacine, WI37,276Oshkosh, WI: 35,258 personsOshkosh, WI35,258Janesville, WI: 33,887 personsJanesville, WI33,887West Allis, WI: 31,920 personsWest Allis, WI31,920La Crosse, WI: 27,561 personsLa Crosse, WI27,561Sheboygan, WI: 26,214 personsSheboygan, WI26,214Wauwatosa, WI: 26,203 personsWauwatosa, WI26,203Fond du Lac, WI: 22,886 personsFond du Lac, WI22,886New Berlin, WI: 21,132 personsNew Berlin, WI21,132Oak Creek, WI: 21,098 personsOak Creek, WI21,098Sun Prairie, WI: 20,746 personsSun Prairie, WI20,746Wausau, WI: 20,436 personsWausau, WI20,436Menomonee Falls, WI: 20,282 personsMenomonee Falls, WI20,282Brookfield, WI: 20,173 personsBrookfield, WI20,173Greenfield, WI: 19,915 personsGreenfield, WI19,915Fitchburg, WI: 19,318 personsFitchburg, WI19,318Beloit, WI: 17,621 personsBeloit, WI17,621West Bend, WI: 17,516 personsWest Bend, WI17,516Franklin, WI: 17,469 personsFranklin, WI17,469Manitowoc, WI: 17,373 personsManitowoc, WI17,373Stevens Point, WI: 14,726 personsStevens Point, WI14,726Mount Pleasant, WI: 14,551 personsMount Pleasant, WI14,551Neenah, WI: 14,542 personsNeenah, WI14,542Superior, WI: 14,209 personsSuperior, WI14,209Muskego, WI: 13,971 personsMuskego, WI13,971De Pere, WI: 13,926 personsDe Pere, WI13,926Caledonia, WI: 12,838 personsCaledonia, WI12,838Mequon, WI: 12,422 personsMequon, WI12,422
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Milwaukee, WI274,178-2.1%
2Madison, WI162,3250%
3Green Bay, WI54,943-2.4%
4Kenosha, WI54,123+1.2%
5Waukesha, WI41,562-0%
6Appleton, WI40,825-1.3%
7Eau Claire, WI39,331+0.7%
8Racine, WI37,276-0.5%
9Oshkosh, WI35,258-0.5%
10Janesville, WI33,887-0.2%
11West Allis, WI31,920-2.4%
12La Crosse, WI27,561-2.6%
13Sheboygan, WI26,214-1.9%
14Wauwatosa, WI26,203-0.4%
15Fond du Lac, WI22,886-0.3%
16New Berlin, WI21,132-0.5%
17Oak Creek, WI21,098-0.5%
18Sun Prairie, WI20,746+3.4%
19Wausau, WI20,436-0.6%
20Menomonee Falls, WI20,282+0.8%
21Brookfield, WI20,173-0%
22Greenfield, WI19,915-1.5%
23Fitchburg, WI19,318+3.2%
24Beloit, WI17,621-0.2%
25West Bend, WI17,516+0.4%
26Franklin, WI17,469-1.3%
27Manitowoc, WI17,373-0.4%
28Stevens Point, WI14,726-3.3%
29Mount Pleasant, WI14,551+0.5%
30Neenah, WI14,542-0.2%
31Superior, WI14,209-3.2%
32Muskego, WI13,971+0.6%
33De Pere, WI13,926-1.4%
34Caledonia, WI12,838-0.1%
35Mequon, WI12,422+1.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in Wisconsin by civilian labor force, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Wisconsin by civilian labor force, 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/wisconsin-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in Wisconsin by civilian labor force, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/wisconsin-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Wisconsin by civilian labor force, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/wisconsin-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_wisconsin_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Wisconsin by civilian labor force, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/wisconsin-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Wisconsin by civilian labor force, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/wisconsin-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/wisconsin-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Wisconsin by civilian labor force using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Milwaukee, WI, with 274,178 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Mequon, WI, with 12,422 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Wisconsin: more rankings