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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Black residents of Wisconsin chiefly live in the southeastern part of the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Wisconsin’s population is 86% white and 7.7% Black, according to the 2020 Census. The Black population is up from 7.1% in 2010. 

Almost 90% of the Black population resides in six counties in the southern part of the state — Milwaukee, Dane, Racine, Kenosha, Rock and Waukesha.

About 59% of all Black people in Wisconsin live in Milwaukee County, which has the largest proportion of Black residents as part of its total population, at 29%. Racine and Kenosha counties are next at 14% and 9%, respectively. 

The concentration of the Black population in Wisconsin in the southeastern part of the state today traces back in part to the large-scale migration of Black people from the South to Milwaukee to pursue manufacturing jobs after World War II.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Wisconsin Department of Health Services: African Americans in Wisconsin: History

Wisconsin Department of Health Services: African Americans in Wisconsin: Overview

U.S. 2020 Census: Share of Wisconsin’s Black population residing in Milwaukee County

U.S. 2020 Census: Proportion of Black people by Wisconsin county

Wisconsin Historical Society: Black history in Wisconsin

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Jacob Alabab-Moser joined as Wisconsin Watch’s fact checker in September 2022, as part of the effort by The Gigafact Project in partnership with different state-level news outlets to combat misinformation in the 2022 midterm elections. Jacob has several years of experience as a fact checker and research assistant at a variety of organizations, including at The Gigafact Project. He holds a BA from Brown University and is pursuing a MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.