- Cities
- United States
- Milwaukee
How walkable is Milwaukee?
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
Milwaukee has a walkability score of 76 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. It is the joint 11th most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with 1 other.
What's within walking distance of the center
1,376 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Milwaukee. The nearest grocery is about 9 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for restaurants & bars, shopping, coffee, banks, parks, schools, books & libraries and culture & entertainment.
Groceries
- Metro Market, 16 min
- Go Grocer Mke, 17 min
Restaurants & bars
- Goodland Greens, 1 min
- Mo's Irish Pub, 1 min
Shopping
- Kids Foot Locker, 1 min
- Small Business Development Center, 1 min
Coffee
- Supernova Coffee And Doughnuts, 2 min
- Canary Coffee Bar, 3 min
Banks
- Cibc Banking Center, 4 min
- Wells Fargo, 4 min
Parks
- Vel R. Phillips Plaza, 5 min
- Pere Marquette Park, 5 min
Schools
- Project STAY, 13 min
- Tenor High School, 13 min
Books & libraries
- Read It Again, 8 min
- MSOE Bookstore, 11 min
Culture & entertainment
- Grand Warner Theatre - Milwaukee, 1 min
- Bradley Symphony Center, 1 min
Measured from the center at 43.0389, -87.9126, the point near Milwaukee's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route.
Street layout
Within 800 m of the center there are about 98 street intersections per km², and blocks average 89 m long. That is a well-connected street grid, so the score is not reduced.
How far walkability reaches
Milwaukee's score of 76 is the average across the 5 km around its center, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 92 within 1 km of the center, 78 from 1 to 3 km out and 72 from 3 to 5 km out. 25 of the 91 points within 5 km fall on water or on land without streets, such as hillsides, forest or farmland, and are left out, so the score describes only the built-up part. 73% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot.
- 90+
- 70–89
- 50–69
- 25–49
- 0–24
Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Milwaukee. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the center. Gaps are water or land without streets.
| Area | Score | Scoring 70+ |
|---|---|---|
| Center | 97 | 100% |
| Within 1 km | 92 | 100% |
| 1 to 3 km out | 78 | 81% |
| 3 to 5 km out | 72 | 63% |
Nearby cities
| City | Distance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago, United States | 134 km | 91 |
| Indianapolis, United States | 392 km | 56 |
| Detroit, United States | 405 km | 66 |
| Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States | 466 km | 63 |
| Minneapolis, United States | 480 km | 72 |
Questions about walking in Milwaukee
Is Milwaukee a walkable city?
Around its center, yes. Milwaukee has a walkability score of 76 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. Its center scores 97. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks joint 11th of 58 cities in the United States and joint 181st of 690 worldwide on How Walkable.
What is the most walkable city in the United States?
New York City is the most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with a score of 93. Milwaukee ranks joint 11th with 76.
How does Milwaukee compare with nearby cities?
Milwaukee sits between its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 76, against Chicago (91, 134 km away), Indianapolis (56, 392 km away) and Detroit (66, 405 km away).
Which part of Milwaukee is most walkable?
Milwaukee's most walkable area is its center, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 97. Walkability averages 92 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the north-east (averaging 84) and falls most to the west (58).
Why is Milwaukee's score different from its Walk Score?
Walk Score's city scores average every neighborhood within the city limits, weighted by where people live, so they count outer suburbs that the 5 km around Milwaukee's center leaves out, and they are usually lower. Address by address the two agree closely: across 46 addresses in the United States and Canada, How Walkable's scores were 5.9 points from Walk Score's on average, as the accuracy study at howwalkable.com/accuracy shows.
How is Milwaukee's walkability score calculated?
For Milwaukee it is the average of 66 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 48 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames.
Ask about walking anywhere in ChatGPT with the How Walkable app, for example "How walkable is Milwaukee?"