2024-25 Milwaukee Jewish Community Study
Matthew Boxer, Janet Krasner Aronson, Matthew A. Brookner, Alicia B. Chandler, Leonard Saxe, Evan Herring-Nathan
June 2026
The 2024-25 Milwaukee Jewish Community Study provides a comprehensive portrait of the characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors of the Jewish community in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, and Waukesha Counties, Wisconsin. The study, based on data collected from 980 eligible households between December 2, 2024, and March 3, 2025, describes the diverse ways Jewish households in Milwaukee engage in Jewish life, as well as their attitudes, behaviors, affiliations, health, and financial well-being.
Key Findings:
- There are an estimated 16,700 Jewish households in the Milwaukee area. These households include 33,600 individuals, of whom 27,500 are Jewish.
The individual intermarriage rate (i.e., the proportion of married Jewish adults with a non-Jewish spouse) is 37%, below the national average of 42%. - Thirty-eight percent of Jewish adults in Milwaukee identify with the Reform denomination, and 37% do not identify with any particular denomination. Eleven percent identify as Conservative, 8% as Orthodox, and 7% with other denominations.
Fifty-four percent of Jewish households in Milwaukee reside in the North Shore. Twenty-two percent are in the City of Milwaukee, 12% in Waukesha County, and 12% in the Milwaukee County South Suburbs. - Thirty-two percent of Jewish households in Milwaukee are members of a synagogue, independent minyan, or other Jewish congregation.
The most common barriers to participation in the Milwaukee Jewish community are not knowing many people (35%), not finding programs of interest (34%), being unable to afford programs (21%), and feeling that one’s political views are unwelcome (20%). - Fifty-eight percent of Jewish adults in Milwaukee volunteered anywhere in the past year, including 36% who volunteered for or with a Jewish organization or cause.
Fifty-six percent of Jewish adults in Milwaukee have visited Israel at least once.
Twenty-one percent of Jewish households in Milwaukee either cannot make ends meet (4%) or are just managing to make ends meet (17%). - Thirty-four percent of Jewish households in Milwaukee include someone with a chronic health issue, disability, or other need that affects participation in work, school, or activities.