34,000 people live in Jewish households

2024-2025 Milwaukee Jewish Community Study unveiled at Annual Meeting 

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Jewish community includes approximately 17,000 Jewish households and 34,000 people living in Jewish households, according to a new demographic study presented at the Milwaukee Jewish Federation Annual Meeting on June 18, 2026, at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center. 

Of those 34,000 people, about 27,500 are Jewish, with the remainder generally being non-Jewish spouses, partners, roommates, or other family members living in Jewish households. More than 4,500 children live in these households, and over 90% of those children are identified as Jewish by their parents. 

The findings were presented by Alicia Chandler, research associate with the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, which conducted the two-year study. Chandler emphasized that the 2024-2026 Milwaukee Jewish Community Study was a survey, not a full census, but said the results provide a strong, data-driven picture of “who you are, where you live, and how you do Jewish” in greater Milwaukee. 

Geographically, the community is concentrated in familiar areas: about 54% of Jewish households live in the North Shore, while 22% are in the City of Milwaukee itself. A density map, which uses red dots to represent clusters of an estimated 25 Jewish households, shows pockets of Jewish life even in places where some might assume there are no Jews. “There are always Jews where you think there’s not Jews,” Chandler joked, underscoring that the map is an approximation based on sampling, not a block-by-block census. 

The study found that Milwaukee’s Jewish population skews older than both the local general population and the national Jewish population. Roughly two-thirds of Jewish adults are over age 50, and the median age is 56. 

When it comes to synagogue and congregational life, about 32% of Jewish households say they belong to some kind of Jewish congregation, broadly defined to include synagogues, temples, Chabad, independent minyanim, and High Holiday congregations. Only 13% belong to what Chandler called a “more traditional” dues-paying synagogue, but participation goes well beyond formal membership: 56% of Jewish adults attended services at least once in the past year, and 41% attended High Holiday services. 

One of the most striking findings concerns volunteerism and philanthropy. Fifty‑eight percent of Milwaukee Jewish adults volunteered in the past year, placing Milwaukee in the top five of the 30 communities Brandeis has studied over the past decade. On the philanthropic side, 62% of Jewish households donated to a Jewish cause in the past year, and 83% gave to some charitable cause. Chandler noted that this level of giving is especially notable because Milwaukee has a smaller share of very high‑income households than many other communities studied. 

The report also surfaces challenges and barriers. Seventy‑four percent of Jewish adults reported at least one barrier to participation in Jewish life. The top two: not knowing many people and not finding programs of interest. Concerns about safety and security, while present, were cited by 13% as a barrier – a number Chandler called “13% too high,” but still relatively low given the current climate. 

On antisemitism, 34% of Jewish adults said they had been personally targeted by an antisemitic incident in the past year, most often verbal. Nearly half (49%) reported avoiding some activity – such as revealing they were Jewish or talking about Israel – out of fear of antisemitism. 

Attachment to Israel remains strong: 56% of the community has visited Israel, 8% has lived there, and 69% feel at least somewhat to very attached. Nearly half reported their emotional attachment to Israel grew stronger after Oct. 7. 

Chandler framed the 155‑page report as a starting point for the next 10 years of communal planning. Milwaukee Jewish Federation President and CEO Miryam Rosenzweig told attendees that the data will feed directly into strategic planning, while also cautioning against oversimplifying or misusing single data points. 

“This is the appetizer,” Chandler said of her presentation, inviting community members to dig deeper into the full report and use the findings to help shape Milwaukee Jewish life for the decade ahead.