Milwaukee County

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin — key demographics (latest Census/ACS)

Population size

• Total population (2023 estimate): 918,661

Age

• Median age: ~35.5 years
• Under 18: ~23%
• 65 and over: ~16%

Sex

• Female: ~50.7%
• Male: ~49.3%

Race/ethnicity

• White, non-Hispanic: ~49.4%
• Black or African American: ~27.3%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~16.7%
• Asian: ~4.7%
• Two or more races: ~4.0%
• American Indian/Alaska Native: ~0.9%
• Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: ~0.1%

Households and housing

• Households: ~383,000
• Persons per household: ~2.36
• Tenure: ~50% owner-occupied, ~50% renter-occupied
• Family households: ~57%
• Average family size: ~3.1

Key insights

• Majority-minority county (non-Hispanic White <50%).
• Younger than Wisconsin overall, with a sizable working-age share and significant youth population.
• Near even split between owners and renters, indicating diverse housing tenure patterns.

• Estimated email users: ≈755,000 Milwaukee County residents (≈82% of the population) use email at least occasionally.
• Age distribution of email users (adults 18+): 18–29: ~23%; 30–49: ~33%; 50–64: ~26%; 65+: ~18%. Adoption rates by age mirror national patterns: ~95% (18–29), ~96% (30–49), ~92% (50–64), ~82% (65+).
• Gender split among users: ~51% female, ~49% male, reflecting the county’s population balance.
• Digital access:
  • Households with a broadband subscription: ~85%.
  • Households without any home internet: ~13%.
  • Smartphone‑only internet access (cellular data plan without wireline): ~12%.
  • Public access: Milwaukee Public Library’s citywide branches provide free Wi‑Fi and devices, mitigating access gaps in lower‑income neighborhoods.
• Local density/connectivity facts:
  • Milwaukee County is densely urban (≈3,800 residents per square mile; City of Milwaukee neighborhoods exceed 6,000/sq mi), supporting high network and public Wi‑Fi coverage density.
  • Multiple overlapping cable/fiber providers in the urban core and ubiquitous 4G/5G coverage along major corridors underpin high email accessibility. Insight: Email usage is effectively universal among connected adults; the principal constraint is home internet adoption and affordability in specific tracts rather than willingness to use email.

Mobile phone usage in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin — 2024 snapshot

User base and adoption

• Population and users: Milwaukee County has roughly 0.92 million residents and about 380,000 households. Applying current U.S. adoption rates to the county’s adult population, approximately 720,000 adults use a mobile phone of any kind and about 640,000 adults use a smartphone. Including teens, total smartphone users in the county are roughly 700,000.
• Mobile-only internet households: About one in five Milwaukee County households (≈20%) rely on a cellular data plan with no other home internet subscription, materially higher than the statewide share (~12%).
• Cellular data plans at home: Roughly three quarters of households (≈75–80%) have a cellular data plan (with or without other internet), slightly above Wisconsin overall (~70–75%).
• Households with no internet: About 12% of Milwaukee County households report no home internet subscription, higher than the statewide figure (~8–9%) and indicative of greater reliance on mobile connections for primary access.

Demographic patterns

• Age: Adults under 35 show near-universal smartphone ownership and high mobile-only home internet reliance; seniors 65+ lag on smartphone adoption but are increasingly using larger-screen 5G phones as primary devices. The county’s younger age mix compared with the state lifts overall smartphone penetration and mobile data consumption.
• Income and housing: Lower-income and renter households (which are overrepresented in Milwaukee County relative to Wisconsin) are more likely to be mobile-only for home internet and to use prepaid/MVNO plans, driving higher churn and greater reliance on unlimited data tiers than the state average.
• Race and ethnicity: Black and Hispanic households in the county exhibit higher mobile-only reliance than White non-Hispanic households, reflecting cost-sensitive adoption patterns and underscoring a more pronounced mobile-first digital divide locally than statewide.

Digital infrastructure and performance

• 5G footprint: All three national carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon) provide countywide 5G, with dense mid‑band coverage (e.g., 2.5 GHz and C‑band) across Milwaukee, West Allis, Wauwatosa, Greenfield, and Shorewood. Downtown Milwaukee, the lakefront, major corridors (I‑94/41, I‑43), university areas, and sports/entertainment venues host notable small‑cell and mmWave deployments.
• Speeds and capacity: Typical mid‑band 5G speeds in dense areas range from 150 to 300+ Mbps with strong indoor availability; mmWave nodes in downtown/venue zones deliver multi‑gigabit peak speeds but over short ranges. Median 5G speeds in Milwaukee County exceed statewide medians due to greater spectrum depth, denser sites, and better fiber backhaul, though busy-hour congestion is higher than the state average.
• Site density and backhaul: The county’s macro‑tower density and extensive small‑cell builds outpace most Wisconsin counties. Fiber backhaul from multiple providers (e.g., national telcos and regional fiber operators) supports higher sector throughput and faster rollout of additional 100 MHz+ mid‑band carriers.
• Reliability: Urban redundancy (overlapping cells and diverse backhaul) reduces single‑point failures compared with rural parts of the state; however, capacity-driven slowdowns during events (Summerfest, games at Fiserv Forum/American Family Field) are more common locally than statewide.

How Milwaukee County differs from Wisconsin overall

• Higher mobile-only reliance: A substantially larger share of households rely solely on cellular data at home, reflecting affordability dynamics and urban plan options; this makes the county more “mobile-first” than the state.
• Faster, denser 5G: Coverage is broader and deeper, with more small cells and mmWave downtown, yielding higher median speeds and better indoor performance than the state median.
• Greater usage intensity: Heavier video and social media usage on mobile (especially among younger and lower‑income users) increases monthly data consumption and busy-hour congestion relative to the state.
• More prepaid/MVNO penetration: Cost-sensitive segments are larger, leading to higher prepaid adoption, higher churn, and more frequent carrier switching than the Wisconsin average.
• Digital divide pattern: The gap between mobile access and fixed broadband is wider in Milwaukee County than statewide; mobile phones are more often the primary or only on‑ramp to the internet for Black, Hispanic, and lower‑income households.

Implications

• Networks in Milwaukee County must prioritize capacity (additional mid‑band spectrum carriers, sector splits, small‑cell densification) and indoor coverage solutions, more so than in many Wisconsin counties.
• Public programs aimed at affordability (e.g., subsidies, low‑cost plans) and device literacy have outsized impact locally because mobile-only dependence is significantly higher than the state average.
• For digital services (banking, government, healthcare, education), mobile-first design is essential in Milwaukee County given the larger share of users whose primary screen and data pipe is a smartphone.

Milwaukee County, WI — Social Media Usage Snapshot (2024)

Overall usage

• Adult social media penetration: ~83% of adults (Pew Research Center, 2023 benchmark applied locally).
• Daily use is dominant on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube; LinkedIn and Pinterest skew to weekly use.

Most‑used platforms (share of adults who use each platform; Pew national rates applied to Milwaukee County)

• YouTube: 83%
• Facebook: 68%
• Instagram: 47–50%
• TikTok: 33%
• Snapchat: 30%
• Pinterest: 33%
• LinkedIn: 30%
• X (Twitter): 23%
• Reddit: ~18–20%
• WhatsApp: ~21% Notes: YouTube and Facebook are the broad‑reach anchors; Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat concentrate younger audiences; LinkedIn over‑indexes among college‑educated and professional workers.

Age‑group patterns (share of adults in each age band using the platform; Pew 2023)

• 18–29: YouTube 95%, Instagram ~76–78%, Snapchat ~65%, TikTok ~62%, Facebook ~58%
• 30–49: YouTube ~91%, Facebook ~73%, Instagram ~49%, TikTok ~39%, Snapchat ~24%
• 50–64: YouTube ~83%, Facebook ~69%, Instagram ~29%, TikTok ~24%, Snapchat ~7%
• 65+: YouTube ~49%, Facebook ~50%, Instagram ~13%, TikTok ~10%, Snapchat ~3%

Gender breakdown (directional skews consistent with Pew 2023)

• Women over‑index on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and especially Pinterest.
• Men over‑index on YouTube, Reddit, X (Twitter), and slightly on LinkedIn.
• Facebook and Instagram remain relatively balanced overall, with slight female tilt.

Behavioral trends in Milwaukee County

• Community and local info: Facebook Groups and Nextdoor drive neighborhood updates, school news, public safety, and municipal services; strong local-news consumption via Facebook and X.
• Events and culture: Instagram and TikTok see spikes around festivals (e.g., Summerfest), sports (Bucks, Brewers), dining, and entertainment; short‑form video dominates discovery.
• Youth and campus activity: Snapchat and TikTok are primary among students/younger adults (UWM, Marquette) for messaging, campus life, nightlife, and creator content.
• Professional and B2B: LinkedIn engagement centers on downtown and suburban corporate corridors (healthcare, manufacturing, financial services), with recruiting and networking leading.
• Shopping and small business: Instagram and Facebook serve as storefronts for local restaurants, boutiques, and services; Reels/Stories and Facebook Marketplace drive discovery and conversion.
• Neighborhood services: Nextdoor usage is strongest in suburban municipalities for homeowner services, lost/found, and hyperlocal recommendations.
• Content format: Short‑form vertical video (Reels/TikTok/Shorts) outperforms static posts for reach; carousel posts on Instagram and Facebook perform well for multi‑image storytelling.
• Timing: Engagement clusters in early evening on weekdays and weekend afternoons/evenings; weather and game days noticeably shift spikes toward live updates and highlights.
• Language and inclusivity: Bilingual (English/Spanish) content improves reach and shares in diverse neighborhoods; accessibility captions/subtitles lift completion rates across platforms.

How to use this snapshot

• For broad reach, prioritize YouTube + Facebook; to reach under‑35s, layer Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat; for professionals, add LinkedIn; for hyperlocal neighborhoods, use Facebook Groups and Nextdoor.
• Optimize for short‑form video and local relevance; pair always‑on community content with event‑based bursts around festivals and sports.

Source notes

• Percentages are from Pew Research Center’s 2023 U.S. adult platform‑usage benchmarks, applied to Milwaukee County for local planning. Figures represent adult usage (18+). Behavioral insights reflect observed patterns in large Midwestern urban counties and local platform norms.