West Allis, WI

West Allis exists because of one factory. Wikipedia's city entry traces the name to Edward P. Allis, whose Milwaukee manufacturing firm became Allis-Chalmers in 1901. In 1902 the company built a large new plant west of the city in an area then called North Greenfield, and earlier still Honey Creek. The settlement around the plant incorporated as the Village of West Allis and became the City of West Allis in 1906. Between 1910 and 1930 its population grew fivefold.

The scale of that plant is hard to picture now. In a 2019 OnMilwaukee history feature, the president of Summit Properties said more than 17,000 people once worked on the site, and that the company had been the second-largest employer in the state. The complex ran north of Washington Street, across 70th Street, south to Greenfield Avenue and east to Hawley Road. Allis-Chalmers built turbines, tractors, engines, kilns and mining equipment there, and the same article describes Manhattan Project work on the site during World War II.

The decline was long. Wikipedia puts the company's global workforce at 13,000 in 1985, down from a peak of 31,000, with a bankruptcy in 1987 and the last Milwaukee office closed in January 1999. The reorganization trust sold parcels and tore down buildings until it ran out of money, so some of the 1903-era structures still stand. Today the Summit Place office complex at 6737 W. Washington St. reuses part of the old plant; OnMilwaukee counted about 2,500 people working there each weekday in 2019.

For a buyer, this history explains the map. The housing that went up between 1910 and 1960 is still most of the city, on narrow lots within walking or streetcar distance of the plant. The old factory land along 70th Street is where the biggest redevelopment is happening now, which I cover in the downtown and development sections. The city celebrated its centennial on June 15, 2006.

West Allis is the city directly west of Milwaukee's south side. Wikipedia gives it 11.41 square miles, of which 0.02 square miles is water, and lists it as the eleventh-most populous city in Wisconsin. The upper courses of the Root and Kinnickinnic Rivers start here, and Honey Creek runs through the north side. Interstate 94 and Interstate 41/894 cross the city, and Greenfield Avenue (State Highway 59) is the main street.

Here is the plain statement for anyone who found this page while searching for Wisconsin lake homes. West Allis is not a lake market and it is not a luxury market. It has almost no water area, and its homes are priced well below its western and northern neighbors.

The housing is dense and older. The 2020-2024 Census ACS counts 59,612 residents and 30,294 housing units. Of 28,311 occupied homes, 15,705, about 55%, are owner-occupied. About 51% of all units are single-family detached houses, and another 4,462 units, about 15%, are in two-unit buildings, the Milwaukee-style duplex or two-flat. Buildings of 20 units or more account for 4,902 units.

The age profile is the defining fact. The ACS puts the median year built at 1956. About 26% of homes predate 1940, and about 59% were built before 1960. Only about 3% of units were built in 2000 or later. If you buy here, you are buying an older house, and the inspection matters more than the paint.

The median house was built in 1956, the median lot in recent sales is 45 feet wide, and only about 1.3% of owner homes are valued at $500,000 or more. Older houses mean older systems, and the August 2025 flood is a reason to inspect every basement. Fair season and I-94 construction both bring traffic.

The West Allis assessor publishes a list of every residential sale since 2010 with the style, size, lot and year built. I read the April 2024 edition for this guide and counted the distinct properties in it, about 8,000 parcels that changed hands from 2010 to April 17, 2024. It is the best public picture of what actually trades here.

The styles break down this way, by my count. Bungalows lead: 1,150 properties are listed as "Milwaukee bungalow" and another 1,104 as "Bungalow", about 28% together. Ranches account for 2,044, about 25%. Cape Cods account for 1,869, about 23%. Colonials, 815, and the assessor's "Old style" category, 602, make up most of the rest. Split levels, Tudors and contemporaries are rare. By occupancy, 6,351 were single-family homes, 1,373 two-family buildings and 254 condominiums.

The lots are narrow. The median lot in that list is 45 feet wide and about 5,400 square feet, and the median year built is 1942. Many blocks south of Greenfield Avenue were platted in the 1920s with 40-to-46-foot frontages and long, deep lots that leave room for a detached garage off the alley.

Two-flats are a real part of the market here. The Milwaukee duplex usually stacks one unit over another with separate entrances. For a buyer, that means owner-occupant financing on a property with rental income. Before you count on the rent, ask the city whether the building is registered and inspected as a rental.

Prices by style stay close together. Using the assessor's list and counting only sales of $50,000 or more in 2023 and early 2024 (my filter, to drop non-market transfers), the median single-family sale was $235,000 across 693 sales and the median two-family sale was $245,000 across 143 sales. By style, the medians ran from $207,000 for "Old style" houses to about $271,000 for colonials. Those figures are two years old and run below today's values, which I cover in the market section.

West Allis reads best as bands running north to south. The north edge along I-94 holds State Fair Park, the Honey Creek corridor and the Hank Aaron State Trail. The middle band along Greenfield Avenue is the old downtown and the former Allis-Chalmers land at 70th Street. National Avenue, a few blocks south, carries Six Points and the farmers market. South of that, most of the city is residential grid down to the Greenfield line, with the newer ranches toward the west.

The city formally recognizes neighborhood associations. Its neighborhood association handbook names East Allis, Liberty Heights, Rainbow Gardens, Rosehill and Wood Dale among the active groups, and the city publishes a map that was revised in 2025. I use those names below because the city uses them. The boundaries are the city's, and I have not checked each against the MLS subdivision field, so treat them as approximate.

The school district does not change across West Allis. The whole city is in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, per the Wisconsin DOR's 2025 tax report, so unlike in Greenfield or New Berlin, the tax rate does not change from block to block. What changes is the age and type of house, the lot width, and how close you are to the fairgrounds, the freeway and the industrial land.

West Allis is one of the lower-priced suburbs in Milwaukee County. Zillow's home value index put the city's typical home value at $276,992 in August 2026, up 4.5% from $264,954 in August 2025. The top-tier value, the typical value of the most expensive third of homes, was $327,701, up 3.8%. By ZIP code, Zillow's August 2026 typical value was $263,109 in 53214 and $297,775 in 53227.

For context, Zillow's August 2026 typical value was $227,629 in the City of Milwaukee, $257,999 in West Milwaukee, $332,828 in Greenfield, $427,594 in Wauwatosa and $455,414 in New Berlin. West Allis sits above Milwaukee and West Milwaukee and well below its western and northern neighbors.

The Census figures run lower because they are five-year owner estimates. The 2020-2024 ACS puts the median value of owner-occupied homes at $203,800. Of 15,705 owner homes, 4,879, about 31%, were valued at $150,000 to $200,000 and 6,398, about 41%, at $200,000 to $300,000. Only 200, about 1.3%, were valued at $500,000 or more, and 64 at $1 million or more.

Here is the honest luxury picture. West Allis does not have a $2 million market. Zillow's top-tier value is about $328,000, and the ACS counts a few dozen owner homes above $1 million in a city of 15,705 owner homes.

Rents are rising. Zillow's observed rent index for ZIP 53214 was $1,435 a month in August 2026, up about 6.5% from a year earlier. The ACS median gross rent, a five-year figure, is $1,007. That rent level is what makes the two-flat math work for an owner-occupant.

I'm not using MLS statistics on this page. Wisconsin sold data comes through a different MLS than the Illinois one I work in. For a specific house, recent sales of the same style on the same kind of lot are the numbers worth using.

Coming from Lake County, Illinois, the tax bill is the first thing people compare. Wisconsin bills are built from a mill rate, the dollars of tax per $1,000 of value. For West Allis, the cleanest public figure is the state's. The Wisconsin DOR's 2025 Town, Village and City Taxes report puts the city's 2025 net effective rate at $19.61 per $1,000 of full market value after the school levy credit, and the gross rate at $20.90. It also puts the city's assessment level at 86% of market value, on an equalized value of $6,406,506,900.

The city's own numbers fill in the pieces. Its 2025 property tax brochure says the city portion is $8.57 per $1,000 of assessed value on the 2025 bill, up from $8.36. It splits the whole bill this way: 39% to the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, 36% to the city, 15% to Milwaukee County, 6% to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and 4% to Milwaukee Area Technical College.

I could not fetch the city's full 2025 rate sheet on assessed value. Dividing the DOR rate by the 86% assessment level gives roughly $22.80 per $1,000 of assessed value, but that is my arithmetic. Confirm it against a current bill.

Here is a worked example. A $300,000 West Allis home would carry about $5,880 in 2025 net taxes at the DOR's full-value rate, by my arithmetic. If it is the owner's primary residence, the lottery and gaming credit, $220.78 in 2025 per the city brochure, and the first dollar credit, $73.59, bring that to about $5,590. For comparison, Ownwell's data for Vernon Hills (April 2026) shows a median effective rate of 2.75%, which on the same $300,000 would be about $8,250.

The bill can be paid in installments due January 31, March 31 and May 31, with interest and penalty of 1.5% a month on late amounts, per the brochure. The city also added a fee in 2026 when more than three items are set out beside the trash cart.

When you sell, Wisconsin charges a real estate transfer fee of $0.30 per $100 of value, or $900 on a $300,000 sale.

This is general information, not tax advice. Your actual bill depends on the parcel, the assessment and the credits you qualify for.

One public district serves all of West Allis: the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, which also covers the Village of West Milwaukee and parts of Greenfield and New Berlin.

The district has two comprehensive high schools. The district also runs James E. Dottke Project-Based Learning High School, a smaller school of 168 enrolled, and a K-12 virtual academy.

The middle grades run through intermediate schools.

Wikipedia's school list also includes Longfellow and Madison elementary schools and Lane Intermediate, which do not appear under those names in the 2024-25 DPI file I used. Ask the district which school serves an address and whether any building has been renamed or consolidated.

Attendance areas are set by the district, not by the neighborhood name. Confirm the assigned elementary, intermediate and high school for a specific address with the district before you write an offer.

West Allis is home to the Wisconsin State Fair, and has been since 1892. Wikipedia's State Fair Park entry says the Wisconsin Agricultural Society bought almost 100 acres of farmland in what was then North Greenfield in 1891 for a permanent fair site. The grounds served as a staging area during the Spanish-American War and both World Wars, and the Green Bay Packers played home games there from 1934 through 1951, including the 1939 NFL Championship Game.

The park is busy year-round. It holds the Milwaukee Mile, which Wikipedia calls the oldest continuously operating motor speedway in the world, the Wisconsin Exposition Center, an RV park and the Pettit National Ice Center, one of only two indoor speed skating rinks in the country and a U.S. Olympic training site.

The fair itself is the big event. The 2026 fair was the 175th, and Milwaukee Record reported attendance of 925,749 over its run in August. Expo and livestock events continue through the fall, including a Harvest Fair in October.

What this means for a house nearby is mostly practical. In August, streets around 84th Street and Greenfield Avenue fill with fair traffic and parking, and some driveways are rented out for parking. Event nights bring noise and crowds. A block or two farther away, the fair is a 10-minute walk instead of a parking problem. Before buying close to the fairgrounds, visit on a fair day and on a big expo weekend.

The fairgrounds also sit on top of the Honey Creek culvert, which matters for flooding nearby. I cover that in the flood section.

Downtown West Allis is a traditional main street along Greenfield Avenue, centered on City Hall at 7525 W. Greenfield Ave. The Downtown West Allis business improvement district runs events including West Allis A La Carte, which it calls the biggest event in the city outside the fairgrounds, and promotes the independent shops and restaurants along the avenue.

New housing is filling gaps on the avenue. In April 2026 the Journal Sentinel reported that Union Green, at 6400 W. Greenfield Ave., opened on April 2, 2026 with eight townhomes, 11 walk-up apartments and ground-floor retail on a long-vacant block.

A few blocks south, National Avenue is the other center of daily life. The West Allis Farmers Market at Six Points returned for its 107th season on May 2, 2026, per a city press release, open Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m. through November 28.

Across from the market, Makers Row is close to opening. OnMilwaukee reported in August 2026 that the project at S. 66th Street and W. National Avenue grew out of Mandel Group's late 2015 plan for The Market at Six Points. Mandel built nearly 250 apartments on part of the site, and the retail piece became a set of small industrial-style buildings for local businesses. A cocktail bar and restaurant, Black Rose, was expected to open first in fall 2026, followed by an events venue and an urban hydroponic farm. Mandel's next phase of SoNa Lofts nearby, 117 apartments in two buildings, broke ground in July 2026, per the Milwaukee Business Journal.

Greenfield Avenue is also a detour route right now. The city says WisDOT's I-94 East-West reconstruction, 3.5 miles from S. 70th Street to S. 16th Street, brings closures and lane reductions through 2028. In a September 2026 release, the city said new signal timing on Greenfield Avenue cut delay 26.7% in the morning peak and 14.5% in the evening peak. Expect heavier traffic on the avenue until the freeway work ends.

The biggest project in the city is on the old industrial land along 70th Street. Cobalt Partners started Allis Yards there in 2018. Per the Daily Reporter, the original plan at the former school district office called for a 100-room hotel, 52 rowhouses and 300,000 square feet of retail and office space.

In August 2026 Cobalt brought the second phase to the Plan Commission. The Daily Reporter describes it as a $100 million development with up to 400 housing units plus commercial and retail space, on the blocks bounded by S. 70th and 72nd Streets and W. Walker to W. Washington Streets, with upgrades to McKinley Park. Cobalt owns five of the ten properties on the block and needs an agreement with Milwaukee Area Technical College, which owns two buildings, before it can finish the plan. The Journal Sentinel reported that Cobalt planned to start construction in the second quarter of 2027. Treat it as a proposal until the city approves a final plan.

Across 70th Street, McShane Construction is building The Apiary, a 248-unit apartment development for Land by Label, per the same Daily Reporter story.

Smaller projects are spread across the city. A former institutional complex at 1405 S. 92nd St. was slated for demolition in 2025 for new housing by F Street Group, per the Journal Sentinel, and the Milwaukee Business Journal reported in December 2025 that work had started on 147 housing units there.

City services are changing too. The West Allis and Wauwatosa fire departments merged into Milwaukee Metro Fire Rescue, which named its first chief on September 14, 2026, per a city press release.

For a buyer, most of this is apartment construction, not new single-family homes. West Allis is built out, and new for-sale houses are rare. The practical effect is more people, more shops and more traffic near 70th Street and National Avenue. If a house you like backs onto one of these sites, ask the city for the approved plans before you write an offer.

Flooding is the question I would ask about any older West Allis house after August 2025. The Journal Sentinel reported in July 2026 that the storm of August 9, 2025 dropped a Wisconsin-record 14.55 inches of rain in 24 hours at one Milwaukee gauge, caused $208.8 million in damage across the area, and produced more than 1,800 basement backups.

West Allis had its own trouble spot. Honey Creek runs through a 2.5-mile culvert under State Fair Park. The same article says the trash rack at the culvert entrance in McCarty Park, near W. Arthur Avenue and S. 82nd Street, became a bottleneck during the storm, and when that entrance plugs, upstream neighborhoods can flood fast. MMSD fast-tracked a $7.7 million project to replace it with a larger rack, expected to be finished by the end of 2026.

The damage reached newer buildings too. In August 2026 the Journal Sentinel reported a proposed $1.5 million city loan for Element 84, an apartment building at 1482 S. 84th St. that opened in 2020 and flooded in the August 2025 storm.

My practical advice for a West Allis buyer is short. Ask the seller in writing whether the basement took water in August 2025 and what was repaired. Look for a backwater valve or sump and ask whether the sewer lateral has been inspected or lined. Check the FEMA flood map for the parcel, especially near Honey Creek, and price flood insurance before you commit. A finished basement in an older house is worth a closer look here than almost anywhere I work in Illinois.

West Allis has more green space than its density suggests. The city's parks page lists four Milwaukee County parks, three biking and hiking trails and more than a dozen city-owned parks. City parks are open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. year-round.

The county parks are the big ones. Greenfield Park, despite its name, is in West Allis, along with the Cool Waters Aquatic Park. LaFollette, McCarty and Rainbow parks round out the county list. Wikipedia notes that portions of the Hank Aaron State Trail run along the city's northern edge, and the county trail system connects south and west from there.

The city's own parks are mostly neighborhood parks: Liberty Heights with its pool and wading pool, Rogers, Roosevelt, Reservoir, Kopperud, Honey Creek, Arnold Klentz, Burnham Pointe and Veterans Memorial parks, the Joyce Radtke Skatepark, a dog park and small parks at 58th and Beloit, 60th and National, and Railroad Park at 82nd and National. Some can be rented for parties through the city.

Errands are easy. Greenfield Avenue, National Avenue and the Highway 100 corridor on the west side carry most of the shopping, and Milwaukee's neighborhoods are minutes away. For neighbors, see the sibling guides for Wauwatosa, West Milwaukee, Greenfield and Milwaukee.

West Allis is close to downtown Milwaukee and a little over an hour from Lake County, Illinois. These are free-flow estimates from OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM), computed in October 2026 from City Hall on W. Greenfield Avenue. Real trips vary with traffic, weather and season, and the I-94 work through 2028 will add time.

To Vernon Hills, the route runs about 63 miles and roughly 1 hour 20 minutes. To the Loop in downtown Chicago it is about 89 miles and roughly 1 hour 55 minutes. The router put O'Hare at about 86 miles and a little over 2 hours. On the Wisconsin side, downtown Milwaukee is about 6.5 miles and 14 minutes, Milwaukee Mitchell Airport about 10 miles and 23 minutes, Lake Geneva about 44 miles and an hour, and Madison about 73 miles and an hour and a half.

There is no commuter rail in West Allis. For the train to Chicago, Amtrak's Hiawatha leaves from the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, about 5.5 miles and 12 minutes from City Hall, and from the Milwaukee Airport station, about 11 miles and 23 minutes. Metra's Union Pacific North line ends in Kenosha, about 40 miles and an hour away. Locally, Wikipedia lists ten Milwaukee County Transit System routes serving the city.

From here, the trip to northern Illinois is a straight run down I-94. For a buyer who works in Milwaukee and visits Lake County often, West Allis is one of the shortest drives of any Milwaukee suburb with city-like convenience.

The West Allis Police Department provides police service in the city. I don't characterize the safety of any town or neighborhood. Anyone who wants the reported figures can contact the department through the City of West Allis or look them up in the FBI's Crime Data Explorer.