19 May, 2023

The State of the Cities

2022 census estimates for cities were released this week and, as expected, Madison continues to grow. Also as expected - and sadly - Milwaukee continues to lose people.

We lost about 2,500 during the height of the pandemic but gained double that back when the lockdown ended. About 3 months after the 2022 estimate was made, the city annexed a big chunk of the Town of Madison and gained 4,000+ new citizens, if I recall correctly. Add in another 10 months of time and we are likely close to 280,000 now. No metropolis, to be sure, but Madison is the only city of 50K+ people in the state to have any significant growth. I wonder if Dane county continues to rule the roost in job growth in the state.

We can expect rents and home prices to continue to rise.

Wowzers! Milwaukee is estimated to have lost nearly 14,000 people the past couple years. Where are they going? I think that Milwaukee County has lost population recently so it doesn't seem that they're simply going to Tosa. Leaving the state?

Janesville and Eau Claire have gained a few hundred people each since 2020 but really, Wisconsin's biggest cities have stagnant populations or are losing people with 1 exception.

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