Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Wisconsin

Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people

Milwaukee, WI had the highest unemployed people of 35 cities in 2017, at 12,456. Mequon, WI had the lowest, at 354. The median was 646. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest12,456Milwaukee, WI
Lowest354Mequon, WI
Median64635 cities

All cities, 2017

Milwaukee, WI: 12,456 personsMilwaukee, WI12,456Madison, WI: 3,786 personsMadison, WI3,786Kenosha, WI: 2,110 personsKenosha, WI2,110Green Bay, WI: 1,799 personsGreen Bay, WI1,799Racine, WI: 1,786 personsRacine, WI1,786Appleton, WI: 1,281 personsAppleton, WI1,281West Allis, WI: 1,270 personsWest Allis, WI1,270Waukesha, WI: 1,261 personsWaukesha, WI1,261Janesville, WI: 1,206 personsJanesville, WI1,206Eau Claire, WI: 1,130 personsEau Claire, WI1,130Oshkosh, WI: 1,083 personsOshkosh, WI1,083La Crosse, WI: 934 personsLa Crosse, WI934Beloit, WI: 813 personsBeloit, WI813Wauwatosa, WI: 790 personsWauwatosa, WI790Sheboygan, WI: 789 personsSheboygan, WI789Fond du Lac, WI: 699 personsFond du Lac, WI699Greenfield, WI: 696 personsGreenfield, WI696New Berlin, WI: 646 personsNew Berlin, WI646Manitowoc, WI: 638 personsManitowoc, WI638Wausau, WI: 638 personsWausau, WI638Oak Creek, WI: 628 personsOak Creek, WI628Franklin, WI: 599 personsFranklin, WI599Brookfield, WI: 593 personsBrookfield, WI593Menomonee Falls, WI: 589 personsMenomonee Falls, WI589Superior, WI: 588 personsSuperior, WI588Mount Pleasant, WI: 515 personsMount Pleasant, WI515West Bend, WI: 514 personsWest Bend, WI514Sun Prairie, WI: 486 personsSun Prairie, WI486Caledonia, WI: 476 personsCaledonia, WI476Stevens Point, WI: 451 personsStevens Point, WI451Neenah, WI: 443 personsNeenah, WI443Muskego, WI: 404 personsMuskego, WI404De Pere, WI: 393 personsDe Pere, WI393Fitchburg, WI: 392 personsFitchburg, WI392Mequon, WI: 354 personsMequon, WI354Milwaukee, WI: 12,456 personsMilwaukee, WI12,456Madison, WI: 3,786 personsMadison, WI3,786Kenosha, WI: 2,110 personsKenosha, WI2,110Green Bay, WI: 1,799 personsGreen Bay, WI1,799Racine, WI: 1,786 personsRacine, WI1,786Appleton, WI: 1,281 personsAppleton, WI1,281West Allis, WI: 1,270 personsWest Allis, WI1,270Waukesha, WI: 1,261 personsWaukesha, WI1,261Janesville, WI: 1,206 personsJanesville, WI1,206Eau Claire, WI: 1,130 personsEau Claire, WI1,130Oshkosh, WI: 1,083 personsOshkosh, WI1,083La Crosse, WI: 934 personsLa Crosse, WI934Beloit, WI: 813 personsBeloit, WI813Wauwatosa, WI: 790 personsWauwatosa, WI790Sheboygan, WI: 789 personsSheboygan, WI789Fond du Lac, WI: 699 personsFond du Lac, WI699Greenfield, WI: 696 personsGreenfield, WI696New Berlin, WI: 646 personsNew Berlin, WI646Manitowoc, WI: 638 personsManitowoc, WI638Wausau, WI: 638 personsWausau, WI638Oak Creek, WI: 628 personsOak Creek, WI628Franklin, WI: 599 personsFranklin, WI599Brookfield, WI: 593 personsBrookfield, WI593Menomonee Falls, WI: 589 personsMenomonee Falls, WI589Superior, WI: 588 personsSuperior, WI588Mount Pleasant, WI: 515 personsMount Pleasant, WI515West Bend, WI: 514 personsWest Bend, WI514Sun Prairie, WI: 486 personsSun Prairie, WI486Caledonia, WI: 476 personsCaledonia, WI476Stevens Point, WI: 451 personsStevens Point, WI451Neenah, WI: 443 personsNeenah, WI443Muskego, WI: 404 personsMuskego, WI404De Pere, WI: 393 personsDe Pere, WI393Fitchburg, WI: 392 personsFitchburg, WI392Mequon, WI: 354 personsMequon, WI354
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2017
persons		Change on 2016
1Milwaukee, WI12,456-18.5%
2Madison, WI3,786-13.4%
3Kenosha, WI2,110-15.1%
4Green Bay, WI1,799-16.9%
5Racine, WI1,786-17.6%
6Appleton, WI1,281-12.1%
7West Allis, WI1,270-21.1%
8Waukesha, WI1,261-13.3%
9Janesville, WI1,206-14.5%
10Eau Claire, WI1,130-13.4%
11Oshkosh, WI1,083-15.8%
12La Crosse, WI934-17.1%
13Beloit, WI813-11.3%
14Wauwatosa, WI790-14.5%
15Sheboygan, WI789-17.1%
16Fond du Lac, WI699-16.7%
17Greenfield, WI696-16.4%
18New Berlin, WI646-16.5%
19Manitowoc, WI638-17.8%
19Wausau, WI638-15%
21Oak Creek, WI628-15.8%
22Franklin, WI599-12.6%
23Brookfield, WI593-15.9%
24Menomonee Falls, WI589-14.3%
25Superior, WI588-10.1%
26Mount Pleasant, WI515-16.1%
27West Bend, WI514-14.6%
28Sun Prairie, WI486-13.4%
29Caledonia, WI476-15.3%
30Stevens Point, WI451-16.6%
31Neenah, WI443-12.8%
32Muskego, WI404-16.2%
33De Pere, WI393-18.8%
34Fitchburg, WI392-10.1%
35Mequon, WI354-14.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, 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. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 2017. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_wisconsin_by_2017,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2017. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 2017
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.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Milwaukee, WI, with 12,456 in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Mequon, WI, with 354 in 2017.

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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Wisconsin: more rankings