Milwaukee, WI

High Risk (72/100)

A PlainEnviro-computed score from reported facility/violation counts, not an official EPA rating, health forecast, or population-adjusted rate. See methodology. This is a different measure than the EJ Screening score for this county, which ranks it by percentile against every other tracked county rather than against fixed national thresholds.

Environmental data for Milwaukee in Wisconsin · Population: 927,656

Milwaukee, WI is tracked across three EPA datasets covering 50 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) facilities, 40 Safe Drinking Water Act systems, and 0 Superfund National Priorities List sites. Together these generate an environmental burden score of 72/100 (High Risk), calibrated against national distributions for facility density, chemical release volume, Superfund concentration, and water-system health violations.

Industrial disclosures inside the county total 9.8M lbs of reported toxic releases under EPCRA Section 313, while 11 water systems carry an active health-based violation in the SDWIS record. EPA Air Quality System monitors logged a median AQI of 43 and a peak AQI of 147 in 2024, with 69% of observed days rated "Good" (0–50).

All figures below draw directly from federal EPA records, TRI self-reported emissions, SDWIS compliance history, NPL Hazard Ranking System scores, and AQS daily AQI summaries, and are not adjusted, weighted, or forecast. A past violation or elevated score does not itself indicate current unsafe conditions; it documents the regulatory and disclosure history publicly filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the most recent reporting cycle.

Population
927,656
TRI Facilities
50
Water Systems
40
Superfund Sites
0
Total Releases
9.8M lbs

Air Quality History (2020–2024)

EPA Air Quality Index (AQI) data showing how many days per year fall into each air quality category.

Year Good Moderate Unhealthy (SG) Max AQI
2024 251 (69%) 109 6 147
2023 166 (45%) 180 15 250
2022 192 (53%) 167 6 143
2021 162 (44%) 196 7 129
2020 204 (56%) 157 4 169
2024 Good Air Quality: 69% of days
Unhealthy days: 6
Median AQI: 43

Source: EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Annual AQI by County EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Annual AQI by County AQI categories: Good (0-50), Moderate (51-100), Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (101-150), Unhealthy (151-200), Very Unhealthy (201-300), Hazardous (301+)

For real-time air quality readings and pollutant breakdowns in Wisconsin, see the EPA's AirNow.gov.

Water Systems (40)

System Population Violations
MILWAUKEE WATERWORKS 626,000 0
WEST ALLIS WATERWORKS 63,240 0
WAUWATOSA WATERWORKS 49,064 0
NORTH SHORE WATER COMMISSION 35,598 0
OAK CREEK WATERWORKS 32,104 5
FRANKLIN WATER UTILITY 22,500 0
SOUTH MILWAUKEE WATERWORKS 21,340 0
CUDAHY WATERWORKS 18,659 0
GREENDALE WATERWORKS 14,393 0
WHITEFISH BAY WATERWORKS 14,272 0
SHOREWOOD WATERWORKS 13,535 1
GLENDALE WATERWORKS 12,883 0
BROWN DEER WATERWORKS 12,741 0
FOX POINT WATERWORKS 6,808 1
ROBERT WILLIAM PARK WATER ASSOCIATION INC 1,065 0
HALES HAPPINESS SUBDIVISION 400 1
PIONEER ESTATES OF DELAVAN 400 0
BEECHWOOD FARMS ESTATES 300 0
BROWNS LAKE MOBILE HOME CT 225 0
MAPLEWOOD VILLAGE 225 0
WHITNALL GARDEN APARTMENTS 200 0
LAKEWOOD VILLAGE 160 0
EMERALD WOODS CONDOS 150 1
OAKTON BEACH 144 0
LAUREL LAKES 608 80 0
GRAND AVE APARTMENTS 80 1
LINDEN LANE APTS 141 75 0
ALLEN ESTATES LLC 75 0
WILLIAMSBURG 207 209 AND 214 70 3
LAKEVIEW HEIGHTS MOBILE HOME PARK 66 0
MEADOWS CONDOMINIUMS ASSOC LTD 50 0
LAUREL LAKES 508 50 0
WILLIAMSBURG 206 48 1
PARKVIEW APARTMENTS 45 8
HEIDEL RD APTS 139 40 3
HEIDEL RD APTS 152 40 0
LINCOLN CREST APARTMENTS 32 0
WILLIAMSBURG 220 32 0
ROSEMORE VILLAGE 32 0
RIVER GARDEN APTS 25 2

TRI Facilities (50)

# Facility Total Releases
1 Wpc Technologies 2.4M lbs
2 Ppg Industries Inc-Oak Creek 2.2M lbs
3 Oak Creek Site 2.0M lbs
4 Henkel US Operations Corp 469.7K lbs
5 Materion Advanced Chemicals 270.6K lbs
6 Seidel Tanning Corp 255.2K lbs
7 Ge Healthcare 244.1K lbs
8 Maynard Steel Casting Co 216.6K lbs
9 Sonoco Metal Packaging LLC 143.1K lbs
10 Aldrich Chemical Co LLC Teutonia 126.7K lbs
11 Ati Ladish Llc. 106.5K lbs
12 Mid-America Steel Drum Co. in C 100.7K lbs
13 Advanced Plating Technologies 100.2K lbs
14 Chr Hansen Inc 98.6K lbs
15 Chrometech of Wisconsin 91.9K lbs
16 Hentzen Coatings,inc 81.2K lbs
17 Brady Worldwide Inc Florist Avenue 75.7K lbs
18 D R Diedrich & Co Ltd 74.1K lbs
19 Master Lock Co 68.2K lbs
20 Thermo Fisher Scientific Milwaukee LLC 63.1K lbs
21 Bay View Industries 50.4K lbs
22 Thiele Tanning 44.6K lbs
23 Highline Warren - Milwaukee 41.1K lbs
24 Ritus Corp 38.6K lbs
25 Milwaukee Precision Casting 35.5K lbs
26 Badger Alloys 35.5K lbs
27 Acme Galvanizing Inc 31.7K lbs
28 Snap-On 31.4K lbs
29 Milwaukee Composites Inc 31.3K lbs
30 Quad/graphics Inc 29.8K lbs
31 Ritus Corp 26.1K lbs
32 Vesta Intermediate Funding Inc 17.1K lbs
33 Grede Holdings LLC 16.6K lbs
34 Quad Packaging Inc 14.9K lbs
35 Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp 13.9K lbs
36 Vulcan Global Manufacturing Solutions Inc 12.8K lbs
37 Kubin-Nicholson Corp 12.2K lbs
38 Milport Enterprises Inc 10.8K lbs
39 Clcm-St Francis (fomerly Masd & Kitzinger) 10.5K lbs
40 Badger Meter Inc 10.2K lbs
41 Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend LLC Milwaukee Terminal 9.3K lbs
42 Unit Drop Forge Co. Inc. 8.6K lbs
43 Elite Finishing LLC 6.7K lbs
44 Solenis LLC 6.7K lbs
45 Motor Castings Co 6.6K lbs
46 Api Heat Transfer 6.5K lbs
47 Blast Cleaning Technologies 5.6K lbs
48 Molson Coors USA Llc-Milwaukee Brewery 5.5K lbs
49 Milwaukee Forge LLC 3.5K lbs
50 Kingchem Laboratories Inc. 3.2K lbs

Cities in Milwaukee (11)

Glendale
Pop: -
2 facilities · 1 water
Cudahy
Pop: -
6 facilities · 1 water
Franklin
Pop: -
9 facilities · 2 water
Oak Creek
Pop: -
15 facilities · 4 water
South Milwaukee
Pop: -
4 facilities · 1 water
Milwaukee
Pop: -
84 facilities · 21 water
Saint Francis
Pop: -
2 facilities · 0 water
Wauwatosa
Pop: -
2 facilities · 1 water
West Allis
Pop: -
3 facilities · 2 water
West Milwaukee
Pop: -
1 facilities · 0 water
Brown Deer
Pop: -
1 facilities · 1 water

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the environmental risk level in Milwaukee, Wisconsin?
Milwaukee, WI has an environmental risk score of 72/100 (High Risk), based on 50 TRI facilities, 0 Superfund sites, and 40 water systems on record. 11 water systems have health-based violations. Source: EPA TRI, SDWIS, and Superfund NPL.
Are there Superfund sites in Milwaukee?
No Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) sites are currently registered in Milwaukee, WI in the EPA database.
How many toxic release facilities are in Milwaukee?
Milwaukee, WI has 50 TRI-reporting facilities on record with the EPA Toxic Release Inventory, with a combined total of 9.8M lbs in reported toxic releases. TRI facilities self-report annual chemical release data to the EPA.
What is the air quality in Milwaukee?
In 2024, Milwaukee, WI recorded a median AQI of 43 and a peak AQI of 147. 69% of monitored days had "Good" air quality (AQI 0–50). Source: EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Annual AQI by County.
Is the drinking water safe in Milwaukee?
Milwaukee, WI has 40 EPA-regulated water systems. 11 systems have reported health-based violations (MCL exceedances). A past violation does not necessarily mean water is currently unsafe. For current water quality, contact your local water utility. Source: EPA SDWIS.
What environmental agencies cover Milwaukee?
Environmental compliance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the federal level and the Wisconsin state environmental agency. Facilities report to the EPA Toxic Release Inventory, water systems are regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and contaminated sites are managed under the Superfund program. Contact your state environmental agency for local concerns.

What does this county environmental profile show?

This county environmental profile rolls up EPA Toxics Release Inventory facility reports, Safe Drinking Water Information System public-water-system filings, and Superfund National Priorities List sites for the county boundary defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Facility counts reflect facilities with a reporting address inside the county, not where downstream environmental effects may be observed. Population figures are from the most recent Census ACS 5-year estimate. The county detail page is updated whenever the upstream EPA programs publish revised data; see the methodology page for the documented ingest cadence and the editorial choices governing how aggregations are computed.

Related

Data sourced from U.S. EPA environmental datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainEnviro Editorial