Overview of Findings
Apartment List has released Milwaukee’s results from the third annual Apartment List Renter Satisfaction Survey. This survey, which drew on responses from over 45,000 renters nationwide, provides insight on what states and cities must do to meet the needs of the country’s 111 million renters.
"Milwaukee renters expressed general satisfaction with the city overall," according to Apartment List. "However, ratings varied greatly across different categories, indicating that even though renters love Milwaukee, some aspects can be better."
Key Findings in Milwaukee include the following:
- Milwaukee renters gave their city a B- overall.
- The highest-rated categories for Milwaukee were affordability, public transit, social life and recreational activities, which all received A- scores.
- The areas of concern to Milwaukee renters are weather and quality of local schools, which both received scores of D.
- Milwaukee millennials are unsatisfied with their city, giving it an overall rating of F.
- Milwaukee did relatively well compared to similar Midwestern cities, including Indianapolis (C+), Detroit (F) and Omaha (B-).
- Milwaukee also did relatively well compared to similar cities nationwide, including Oklahoma City (C+), Tucson (D) and Memphis (C).
- The top rated cities nationwide for renter satisfaction include Scottsdale, AZ, Irvine, CA, Boulder, CO and Ann Arbor, MI. The lowest rated cities include Tallahassee, FL, Stockton, CA, Dayton, OH, Detroit, MI and Newark, NJ.
Renters say:
- "I love being in a smaller city but still having Chicago right next door. I also love that living in downtown Milwaukee has a more affordable cost of living compared to other big cities." -Janis C.
- "I love that there are so many festivals and events celebrating the diversity of Milwaukee. I do wish the city felt safer at night." -Libby F.
- "It’s easy to hate the weather and, because it’s a smaller city, it can be hard to find things to do in the winter. But I find the size to be manageable enough to navigate but big enough to be interesting." -Anon.
For more information on the survey methodology and findings or to speak to one of our researchers, please contact our team at rentonomics@apartmentlist.com.
