County government · Milwaukee County, WI

Milwaukee County's money: where it comes from and where it goes

In the latest recorded fiscal year (ended December 31, 2023), Milwaukee County took in $1.46 billion and spent $1.42 billion.

Latest recorded year: ended December 31, 2023Comes fromGoes to

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Where it comes from

Fees for services (airport, parks and recreation)29%County taxes29%State tax money23%Federal tax money13%Fines and other5.7%Local tax money0.7%

What stands out

29%

of Milwaukee County's money comes from fees for services such as water, sewer and parking.A typical U.S. county of 250,000+ people gets 14%.

County taxes29%

Property tax
21%$305 million
Sales tax
6.8%$98.7 million
Other taxes
1.1%$15.8 million
What's in other taxesMotor vehicle licenses and other licenses
  • Motor vehicle licenses$14.4 million
  • Other licenses$1.4 million

Amounts are by Census tax category.

Fees for services29%

Fees for services
29%$427 million
What's in fees for servicesOther service charges; airport and 5 more
  • Other service charges$230 million
  • Airport$69.9 million
  • Parks and recreation$68.8 million
  • Parking$33.2 million
  • Transit fares$24.9 million
  • Parks, land and natural resources$58 thousand
  • Garbage collection$26 thousand

Amounts are by Census type of charge.

Federal tax money13%

Grants from Washington, paid for by the federal taxes residents also pay.

From the federal government
13%$188 million

State tax money23%

Money the state passes on, paid for by the state taxes residents also pay.

From the state
23%$331 million

Local tax money0.7%

Money passed on by the county or other local governments.

From other local governments
0.7%$10.2 million

Fines and other5.7%

Interest, rents and other
5.6%$81.4 million
Fines
0.1%$2.2 million

Where it goes

Police, fire, courts and jails26%Roads, transit and parking20%Health and hospitals16%Running the government and other costs14%Parks, recreation and libraries11%All other spending12%

What stands out

20%

of Milwaukee County's spending goes to roads, transit and parking.A typical U.S. county of 250,000+ people spends 6.3%.

Spending by category100%

Police, fire, courts and jails
26%$374 million
What's in police, fire, courts and jailsPrisons and jails; courts and legal services and 1 more
  • Prisons and jails$221 million
  • Courts and legal services$82.2 million
  • Police$70.7 million
Roads, transit and parking
20%$282 million
What's in roads, transit and parkingPublic transit; airports and 1 more
  • Public transit$147 million
  • Airports$110 million
  • Roads and highways$25.2 million
Health and hospitals
16%$233 million
What's in health and hospitalsPublic health
  • Public health$233 million
Running the government and other costs
14%$204 million
What's in running the government and other costsOther and not broken out; finance, tax collection and budgeting and 2 more
  • Other and not broken out$114 million
  • Finance, tax collection and budgeting$63.0 million
  • Central staff services (personnel, purchasing, technology)$19.0 million
  • Government buildings$7.9 million
Parks, recreation and libraries
11%$158 million
What's in parks, recreation and librariesParks and recreation and libraries
  • Parks and recreation$158 million
  • Libraries$67 thousand
Social services
8.7%$123 million
What's in social servicesOther public welfare
  • Other public welfare$123 million
Interest on debt
1.7%$23.7 million
Sent to other local governments
1.4%$19.6 million
What's in sent to other local governmentsSent to the state government
  • Sent to the state government$19.6 million
Schools and colleges
<0.1%$509 thousand
What's in schools and collegesElementary and secondary schools
  • Elementary and secondary schools$509 thousand
Sources and moreWhere these numbers come from and what they cover

Milwaukee County. U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, individual unit file, fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

What this covers. The money of Milwaukee County itself. Other governments that serve the same area (the city, county, school district and state) are separate and not included. Borrowing, transfers between a government's own funds, and pension trust funds are not counted as revenue.