Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Wisconsin

Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people

Milwaukee, WI had the highest unemployed people of 35 cities in 2021, at 17,264. Mequon, WI had the lowest, at 351. The median was 738. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest17,264Milwaukee, WI
Lowest351Mequon, WI
Median73835 cities

All cities, 2021

Milwaukee, WI: 17,264 personsMilwaukee, WI17,264Madison, WI: 4,505 personsMadison, WI4,505Kenosha, WI: 2,508 personsKenosha, WI2,508Racine, WI: 2,221 personsRacine, WI2,221Green Bay, WI: 2,138 personsGreen Bay, WI2,138West Allis, WI: 1,545 personsWest Allis, WI1,545Janesville, WI: 1,508 personsJanesville, WI1,508Waukesha, WI: 1,393 personsWaukesha, WI1,393Appleton, WI: 1,284 personsAppleton, WI1,284Eau Claire, WI: 1,275 personsEau Claire, WI1,275Oshkosh, WI: 1,166 personsOshkosh, WI1,166Beloit, WI: 1,033 personsBeloit, WI1,033Sheboygan, WI: 909 personsSheboygan, WI909La Crosse, WI: 903 personsLa Crosse, WI903Wauwatosa, WI: 866 personsWauwatosa, WI866Fond du Lac, WI: 841 personsFond du Lac, WI841Greenfield, WI: 828 personsGreenfield, WI828Wausau, WI: 738 personsWausau, WI738Oak Creek, WI: 714 personsOak Creek, WI714Sun Prairie, WI: 691 personsSun Prairie, WI691New Berlin, WI: 672 personsNew Berlin, WI672Menomonee Falls, WI: 640 personsMenomonee Falls, WI640Manitowoc, WI: 626 personsManitowoc, WI626Franklin, WI: 622 personsFranklin, WI622Brookfield, WI: 603 personsBrookfield, WI603West Bend, WI: 578 personsWest Bend, WI578Superior, WI: 555 personsSuperior, WI555Mount Pleasant, WI: 541 personsMount Pleasant, WI541Fitchburg, WI: 512 personsFitchburg, WI512Caledonia, WI: 481 personsCaledonia, WI481Neenah, WI: 462 personsNeenah, WI462Stevens Point, WI: 462 personsStevens Point, WI462De Pere, WI: 441 personsDe Pere, WI441Muskego, WI: 425 personsMuskego, WI425Mequon, WI: 351 personsMequon, WI351Milwaukee, WI: 17,264 personsMilwaukee, WI17,264Madison, WI: 4,505 personsMadison, WI4,505Kenosha, WI: 2,508 personsKenosha, WI2,508Racine, WI: 2,221 personsRacine, WI2,221Green Bay, WI: 2,138 personsGreen Bay, WI2,138West Allis, WI: 1,545 personsWest Allis, WI1,545Janesville, WI: 1,508 personsJanesville, WI1,508Waukesha, WI: 1,393 personsWaukesha, WI1,393Appleton, WI: 1,284 personsAppleton, WI1,284Eau Claire, WI: 1,275 personsEau Claire, WI1,275Oshkosh, WI: 1,166 personsOshkosh, WI1,166Beloit, WI: 1,033 personsBeloit, WI1,033Sheboygan, WI: 909 personsSheboygan, WI909La Crosse, WI: 903 personsLa Crosse, WI903Wauwatosa, WI: 866 personsWauwatosa, WI866Fond du Lac, WI: 841 personsFond du Lac, WI841Greenfield, WI: 828 personsGreenfield, WI828Wausau, WI: 738 personsWausau, WI738Oak Creek, WI: 714 personsOak Creek, WI714Sun Prairie, WI: 691 personsSun Prairie, WI691New Berlin, WI: 672 personsNew Berlin, WI672Menomonee Falls, WI: 640 personsMenomonee Falls, WI640Manitowoc, WI: 626 personsManitowoc, WI626Franklin, WI: 622 personsFranklin, WI622Brookfield, WI: 603 personsBrookfield, WI603West Bend, WI: 578 personsWest Bend, WI578Superior, WI: 555 personsSuperior, WI555Mount Pleasant, WI: 541 personsMount Pleasant, WI541Fitchburg, WI: 512 personsFitchburg, WI512Caledonia, WI: 481 personsCaledonia, WI481Neenah, WI: 462 personsNeenah, WI462Stevens Point, WI: 462 personsStevens Point, WI462De Pere, WI: 441 personsDe Pere, WI441Muskego, WI: 425 personsMuskego, WI425Mequon, WI: 351 personsMequon, WI351
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Milwaukee, WI17,264-33.3%
2Madison, WI4,505-43.2%
3Kenosha, WI2,508-39%
4Racine, WI2,221-31.5%
5Green Bay, WI2,138-44.8%
6West Allis, WI1,545-45.9%
7Janesville, WI1,508-42.5%
8Waukesha, WI1,393-45.7%
9Appleton, WI1,284-46%
10Eau Claire, WI1,275-43.6%
11Oshkosh, WI1,166-40.7%
12Beloit, WI1,033-25.7%
13Sheboygan, WI909-49.5%
14La Crosse, WI903-47.2%
15Wauwatosa, WI866-46.8%
16Fond du Lac, WI841-44.9%
17Greenfield, WI828-44.3%
18Wausau, WI738-41.6%
19Oak Creek, WI714-43.6%
20Sun Prairie, WI691-35.1%
21New Berlin, WI672-49.6%
22Menomonee Falls, WI640-46.8%
23Manitowoc, WI626-49.3%
24Franklin, WI622-42.5%
25Brookfield, WI603-47.5%
26West Bend, WI578-45.2%
27Superior, WI555-56.1%
28Mount Pleasant, WI541-43.7%
29Fitchburg, WI512-34.2%
30Caledonia, WI481-45.6%
31Neenah, WI462-45.8%
31Stevens Point, WI462-41%
33De Pere, WI441-47.4%
34Muskego, WI425-45.9%
35Mequon, WI351-41.9%

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.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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 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/unemployed-people/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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 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/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2021.

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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 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/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2021. 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.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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Wisconsin by unemployed people, 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/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/wisconsin-cities?period=2021.
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.CurrentU20-24. 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 17,264 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Mequon, WI, with 351 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Wisconsin: more rankings