Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Wisconsin

Cities in Wisconsin by employed residents

Milwaukee, WI had the highest employed residents of 35 cities in 2021, at 256,914. Mequon, WI had the lowest, at 12,071. The median was 20,055. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest256,914Milwaukee, WI
Lowest12,071Mequon, WI
Median20,05535 cities

All cities, 2021

Milwaukee, WI: 256,914 personsMilwaukee, WI256,914Madison, WI: 157,820 personsMadison, WI157,820Green Bay, WI: 52,805 personsGreen Bay, WI52,805Kenosha, WI: 51,615 personsKenosha, WI51,615Waukesha, WI: 40,169 personsWaukesha, WI40,169Appleton, WI: 39,541 personsAppleton, WI39,541Eau Claire, WI: 38,056 personsEau Claire, WI38,056Racine, WI: 35,055 personsRacine, WI35,055Oshkosh, WI: 34,092 personsOshkosh, WI34,092Janesville, WI: 32,379 personsJanesville, WI32,379West Allis, WI: 30,375 personsWest Allis, WI30,375La Crosse, WI: 26,658 personsLa Crosse, WI26,658Wauwatosa, WI: 25,337 personsWauwatosa, WI25,337Sheboygan, WI: 25,305 personsSheboygan, WI25,305Fond du Lac, WI: 22,045 personsFond du Lac, WI22,045New Berlin, WI: 20,460 personsNew Berlin, WI20,460Oak Creek, WI: 20,384 personsOak Creek, WI20,384Sun Prairie, WI: 20,055 personsSun Prairie, WI20,055Wausau, WI: 19,698 personsWausau, WI19,698Menomonee Falls, WI: 19,642 personsMenomonee Falls, WI19,642Brookfield, WI: 19,570 personsBrookfield, WI19,570Greenfield, WI: 19,087 personsGreenfield, WI19,087Fitchburg, WI: 18,806 personsFitchburg, WI18,806West Bend, WI: 16,938 personsWest Bend, WI16,938Franklin, WI: 16,847 personsFranklin, WI16,847Manitowoc, WI: 16,747 personsManitowoc, WI16,747Beloit, WI: 16,588 personsBeloit, WI16,588Stevens Point, WI: 14,264 personsStevens Point, WI14,264Neenah, WI: 14,080 personsNeenah, WI14,080Mount Pleasant, WI: 14,010 personsMount Pleasant, WI14,010Superior, WI: 13,654 personsSuperior, WI13,654Muskego, WI: 13,546 personsMuskego, WI13,546De Pere, WI: 13,485 personsDe Pere, WI13,485Caledonia, WI: 12,357 personsCaledonia, WI12,357Mequon, WI: 12,071 personsMequon, WI12,071Milwaukee, WI: 256,914 personsMilwaukee, WI256,914Madison, WI: 157,820 personsMadison, WI157,820Green Bay, WI: 52,805 personsGreen Bay, WI52,805Kenosha, WI: 51,615 personsKenosha, WI51,615Waukesha, WI: 40,169 personsWaukesha, WI40,169Appleton, WI: 39,541 personsAppleton, WI39,541Eau Claire, WI: 38,056 personsEau Claire, WI38,056Racine, WI: 35,055 personsRacine, WI35,055Oshkosh, WI: 34,092 personsOshkosh, WI34,092Janesville, WI: 32,379 personsJanesville, WI32,379West Allis, WI: 30,375 personsWest Allis, WI30,375La Crosse, WI: 26,658 personsLa Crosse, WI26,658Wauwatosa, WI: 25,337 personsWauwatosa, WI25,337Sheboygan, WI: 25,305 personsSheboygan, WI25,305Fond du Lac, WI: 22,045 personsFond du Lac, WI22,045New Berlin, WI: 20,460 personsNew Berlin, WI20,460Oak Creek, WI: 20,384 personsOak Creek, WI20,384Sun Prairie, WI: 20,055 personsSun Prairie, WI20,055Wausau, WI: 19,698 personsWausau, WI19,698Menomonee Falls, WI: 19,642 personsMenomonee Falls, WI19,642Brookfield, WI: 19,570 personsBrookfield, WI19,570Greenfield, WI: 19,087 personsGreenfield, WI19,087Fitchburg, WI: 18,806 personsFitchburg, WI18,806West Bend, WI: 16,938 personsWest Bend, WI16,938Franklin, WI: 16,847 personsFranklin, WI16,847Manitowoc, WI: 16,747 personsManitowoc, WI16,747Beloit, WI: 16,588 personsBeloit, WI16,588Stevens Point, WI: 14,264 personsStevens Point, WI14,264Neenah, WI: 14,080 personsNeenah, WI14,080Mount Pleasant, WI: 14,010 personsMount Pleasant, WI14,010Superior, WI: 13,654 personsSuperior, WI13,654Muskego, WI: 13,546 personsMuskego, WI13,546De Pere, WI: 13,485 personsDe Pere, WI13,485Caledonia, WI: 12,357 personsCaledonia, WI12,357Mequon, WI: 12,071 personsMequon, WI12,071
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Milwaukee, WI256,914+1.1%
2Madison, WI157,820+2.2%
3Green Bay, WI52,805+0.8%
4Kenosha, WI51,615+4.5%
5Waukesha, WI40,169+3%
6Appleton, WI39,541+1.5%
7Eau Claire, WI38,056+3.4%
8Racine, WI35,055+2.5%
9Oshkosh, WI34,092+1.9%
10Janesville, WI32,379+3.3%
11West Allis, WI30,375+1.8%
12La Crosse, WI26,658+0.3%
13Wauwatosa, WI25,337+2.7%
14Sheboygan, WI25,305+1.5%
15Fond du Lac, WI22,045+2.9%
16New Berlin, WI20,460+2.8%
17Oak Creek, WI20,384+2.3%
18Sun Prairie, WI20,055+5.5%
19Wausau, WI19,698+2.1%
20Menomonee Falls, WI19,642+3.8%
21Brookfield, WI19,570+2.8%
22Greenfield, WI19,087+1.9%
23Fitchburg, WI18,806+4.8%
24West Bend, WI16,938+3.3%
25Franklin, WI16,847+1.4%
26Manitowoc, WI16,747+3.3%
27Beloit, WI16,588+2%
28Stevens Point, WI14,264-1.2%
29Neenah, WI14,080+2.7%
30Mount Pleasant, WI14,010+3.6%
31Superior, WI13,654+1.8%
32Muskego, WI13,546+3.3%
33De Pere, WI13,485+1.5%
34Caledonia, WI12,357+3.3%
35Mequon, WI12,071+3.6%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents who did any work for pay or profit in the reference week, or were temporarily absent from a job, 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, whatever the place of work, and someone with two jobs counts once. 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: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average (Cities in Wisconsin by employed residents, 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: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Wisconsin by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Cities in Wisconsin by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/wisconsin-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Wisconsin by employed residents, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Wisconsin by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/wisconsin-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Wisconsin by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/wisconsin-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/wisconsin-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest employed residents?

Milwaukee, WI, with 256,914 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Mequon, WI, with 12,071 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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Wisconsin: more rankings