Among the 50 largest U.S. cities, Milwaukee ranks in the bottom half for affordability for minimum-wage workers, according to a new study by Clever Real Estate.

More specifically, the study looked how feasible it was for minimum-wage workers in each city to rent a one-bedroom residence if they were to follow the common advice that people should not spend more than 30% of their income on rent.

While some areas were more affordable than others, Clever Real Estate found that it was not possible in any of the 50 cities, including Milwaukee, for minimum-wage workers to rent a typical one-bedroom apartment in their city for less than 30% of their salary.

Here’s what to know about the rent-to-income ratio in Milwaukee and how it compares to other major cities.

How affordable is Milwaukee rent for minimum-wage workers?

Milwaukee tied with New York City as the 30th-most affordable city for minimum-wage workers.

According to Clever Real Estate, a person working minimum wage for 40 hours a week in Milwaukee would need to spend a whopping 84% of their annual earnings to afford a typical one-bedroom rental in the city.

The typical one-bedroom in Milwaukee amounts to $1,056 monthly, the study said. An affordable rent for minimum wage workers — meaning it would cost 30% of their annual salary — would be $377 monthly.

Milwaukee and Wisconsin have seen some of the country’s fastest-rising rents in the past year. Between March 2023 and March 2024, Milwaukee logged a median rent price of $1,835 per month, according to Rent.com. That’s well above the Midwest median of $1,456 but slightly under the national median of $1,987.

How does Wisconsin minimum wage compare to other cities?

Wisconsin is one of 13 states where minimum wage still sits at the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Thirty states have passed a wage higher than this into law, including Wisconsin’s neighboring states Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan.

Seven states have no minimum wage law or a rate lower than the federal wage, meaning the federal rate applies in these states, barring a few exceptions.

To comfortably afford the typical one-bedroom Milwaukee rent, Clever Real Estate found that a person needs to make at least $20.31 an hour — almost three times the current minimum wage.

Most affordable cities for minimum-wage workers

Though no cities were affordable enough — or had high enough wages — for minimum-wage workers to follow the “30% rule,” here are the ones that topped the list:

1. Buffalo, N.Y. (39% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)
2. St. Louis (46% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)
3. Hartford, Conn. (48% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)
4. Minneapolis (51% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)
5. Providence, R.I. (54% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)
6. Cincinnati (55% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)
7. Cleveland (55% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)
8. Kansas City, Mo. (55% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)
9. Denver (56% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)
10. Detroit (61% of minimum-wage income needed to rent typical one-bedroom)

Claire Reid contributed to this report.

The Milwaukee Bucks put their four-game win streak on the line as they visited the Miami Heat in a nationally televised meeting on Tuesday.

Just before tip-off, they received the news that Giannis Antetokounmpo would be out due to a knee issue, which certainly would not make things any easier. Yet, the team did what they had to do and embraced a next man up mentality. Damian Lillard dropped 37 points and 12 assists, Brook Lopez had 13 points and three blocks and three other Bucks had double-digit points.

It wasn’t the easiest victory, as the Milwaukee Bucks blew another 20-point lead to make things close, but they did manage to come out on top, winning 106-103. Let us analyze three reasons why this win was particularly crucial.

At one point this season, the Bucks were 2-8, and things looked pretty gloomy. However, since then, they’ve won seven of their last eight games, including five straight. Now, after that early hole, they are a .500 team that is building momentum with each passing win. Chemistry continues to strengthen for the Milwaukee Bucks, and they’re now up to fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been putting together a dominant season thus far, but with the Bucks dealing with injuries, he has had to play some significant minutes. He’s had little injuries of his own here and there. Leading up to this game, he was initially dealing with a calf strain before he was ruled out with this left knee effusion. A game off could give the Greek Freak some needed rest.

With Giannis missing this matchup, it will now be a week before he returns to action if he does indeed take the court in Milwaukee’s next game on Saturday. Allowing your superstar to get a week’s worth of rest mid-season is excellent, but it’s even better when the team can win a game in his absence. Hopefully the time off can help the Greek Freak heal.

The Emirates NBA Cup is still growing on fans, but the Milwaukee Bucks being 3-0 in the East Group B bracket after this win over the Heat will certainly drum up excitement. With the win, the Bucks will face the Detroit Pistons on December 3 to decide the winner of this group. Without this win over the Heat, advancing would have been far more challenging.

Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.

MILWAUKEE — After a recent report of a deadly shooting in Milwaukee, we received an email from a viewer named Mario.

He wrote in part, “The tragedy of a shooting is much greater than the financial cost, but people pay attention to the costs because that affects them personally.”

Our Lighthouse team did some digging and found a brand new study with a staggering figure.

“If there are 200 approximately homicides in the city of Milwaukee every year and two to three times that many non-fatal shootings, the cumulative cost to residents of Milwaukee taxpayers who live in the city is exponential,” she said.

Rabinowitz is the research director at the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR). For the first time, it recently published a study that breaks down the financial costs of fatal and non-fatal shootings in Milwaukee.

Watch: Study estimates each fatal shooting in Milwaukee costs taxpayers $2.1 million

New study estimates each fatal shooting in Milwaukee costs taxpayers $2.1 million

The national non-profit focused on six key expenses.

Each time police and first responders go to the scene of a deadly shooting, NICJR found it costs an average of about $8,000. Average hospital costs amount to nearly $90,000. Investigating and prosecuting the crime adds up to another $55,000.

That’s followed by incarceration which is by far the biggest cost of all to the tune of $1.7 million.

When you add victim support expenses and lost tax revenue, the cost estimate for each fatal shooting exceeds $2 million, and more than 640,000 for non-fatal shootings, according to the study.

“There are going to be people who watch this story and say, ‘That’s hard to believe’. What would be your response to them?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.

“My first response to them would be that our estimates are far more conservative than the estimates of a number of other gun violence reduction organizations trying to do similar analyses and that’s because we’re only measuring the direct and measurable costs of gun violence,” Rabinowitz said.

Rabinowitz discovered Milwaukee homicides are more costly to taxpayers than similarly sized cities like Detroit, Indianapolis, and Atlanta largely because of higher incarceration costs in Wisconsin.

TMJ4

“My hope is that people understand that these costs are not costs that we should be comfortable with,” Reggie Moore said.

Moore is the Director of Community Safety, Policy, and Engagement at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He collaborates with the city, county, and state to address violence as a public health issue. His team is now partnering with the researchers who studied the financial cost.

“What do you hope people who see this story take away from this report?” Jordan asked.

“I think it’s important. When you multiply the amount of homicides in one given year by the total cost, that’s hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said.

Moore hopes it helps people understand the value of prevention efforts and the need to invest upfront.

“For example, a program like 414 Life costs $2 million,” he said. “If it saves one life, the return on investment in preventing one homicide is clear. The price for doing nothing or not doing more to prevent these things on the front end is a cost none of us should be willing to pay.”

It’s important to note that Milwaukee’s homicides are down 22 percent compared to last year. According to this study, that reduction saves taxpayers an estimated $68 million.

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