All but two of Milwaukee County’s municipalities lost residents in 2021 as the county’s population dropped by 10,090, a decline of roughly 1.1%.
The city of Milwaukee led the way in absolute terms, losing 6,971 residents between July 1, 2020 and July 1,2021, the dates used for U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Milwaukee’s 1.21% decline, however, was not the worst in the county. Whitefish Bay, down 1.22%, West Allis, down 1.23%, Cudahy, down 1.24%, West Milwaukee, down 1.29%, and Shorewood, down 1.3%, all had bigger percentage losses.
Excluding Milwaukee, the other 18 municipalities in the county saw a combined population decrease of 3,119 or 0.86%.
The only two municipalities to see an increase were St. Francis, up 303 residents or 3.31%, and Brown Deer, up 127 residents or 1.01%.
Among the 200 largest municipalities in the state, a list that includes communities with more than 3,237 residents, 14 of the 20 largest declines came from Milwaukee County. Only Chilton, down 2.3%, and Cross Plains, down 1.38%, saw bigger declines than Shorewood.
On the other hand, St. Francis was the eighth fastest growing among the state’s 200 largest municipalities and second in the region on that list behind the village of Summit, which grew 3.44% by adding 167 residents.
The fastest growing municipalities from the top 200 in the state were the village of Harrison in the Fox Valley, up 5.87%, and city of Altoona near Eau Claire, up 5.71%.
Other southeastern Wisconsin municipalities from the top 200 list seeing growth included Port Washington, up 2.01%, Cedarburg, up 1.91%, Union Grove, up 1.59%, Lake Geneva, up 1.49%, Grafton, up 1.41%, Slinger up 1.39%, Kewaskum, up 1.3% and Mukwonago, up 1.25%.
The village of Lannon saw its population increase by 19.82% or 270 people. With 1,632 residents, Lannon is the 286
th largest municipality in the state.
Among the state’s 10 largest cities, only Madison, up 0.13%, Eau Claire, up 0.18%, and Janesville, up 0.46%, saw population gains. Green Bay was down 0.09%, Kenosha lost 0.45%, Racine was down 0.58%, Appleton lost 0.59%, Waukesha was down 0.15%, and Oshkosh declined 0.13%.
