City Program Will Pay You $9,000 To Move to Milwaukee
Relocation program aims to attract residents, skilled workers from out of state.
Riverwest. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson has a tool to help Milwaukee get to 1 million residents: pay people to move.
The City of Milwaukee and workforce development agency Employ Milwaukee are launching Milwaukee Fresh, a new talent recruitment program designed to attract up to 50 households from outside Wisconsin.
The program offers relocation reimbursements of up to $9,000, depending on household size, as well as assistance finding housing and establishing connections in the community.
The initiative is backed by a $455,763 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). The agency announced the award as part of a $5 million statewide effort to attract workers to Wisconsin.
To qualify, applicants must currently live outside Wisconsin, move into the city of Milwaukee and have an annual household income of at least $55,000. Participants also cannot receive assistance through another WEDC grant.
The maximum reimbursement increases with household size, starting with $3,000 for a single person and growing to $9,000 for a household of four or more.
The incentive is a reimbursement for qualifying moving expenses, not an unrestricted cash payment.
Beyond the financial incentive, the program is designed to make newcomers feel at home in Milwaukee.
“We want people to know that Milwaukee is a great place for a fresh start,” said Johnson in a statement. “Whether it’s walking to work along our beautiful lakefront, restoring a century-old home in one of our many historic neighborhood districts or cheering on our beloved, championship-winning Brewers and Bucks alongside thousands of neighbors, we know people will find ways to feel at home and belong here.”
Participants will be offered the services of a housing concierge, Jess Annabelle of the Milwaukee Real Estate Collective. Annabelle will work individually with households to identify neighborhoods that match their budgets, lifestyles and commuting needs, and help them find homes to rent or purchase. OnMilwaukee will coordinate outings and networking opportunities, including sporting events, restaurant visits and neighborhood tours.
The program is particularly focused on attracting workers in fields with critical workforce needs, including health care, skilled trades and public safety.
“Milwaukee is Wisconsin’s economic hub with over 460,000 jobs and 82,000 unique job postings each year across healthcare, engineering, information technology, public safety, biotechnology and more,” said Julie Cayo, president and CEO of Employ Milwaukee.
The city initiative is one of 17 talent recruitment projects funded by WEDC through a grant program established in the 2025-2027 state budget.
The state funding announcement in May described Milwaukee’s proposal, then called “It’s Better in Milwaukee,” as an effort to create a lasting system for attracting and retaining new residents, rather than relying solely on financial incentives. The proposal also envisioned career navigation services for spouses and partners.
Milwaukee County separately received $217,000 through the same statewide program to recruit out-of-state workers for hard-to-fill county government positions, including engineers, nurses, skilled trades workers and medical examiners.
The city program comes as Milwaukee officials seek to grow the city’s population and attract workers to fill vacancies in critical industries.
Applications and additional eligibility information are available through the Milwaukee Fresh website.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
