  Milwaukee's 53206 ZIP code, located on the city's near North Side, has drawn
considerable attention for its poverty and incarceration rates, as well as for
its large proportion of vacant properties. As a result, it has benefited from
targeted policies at the city level. Keeping in mind that ZIP codes are often
not the most effective unit of geographic analysis, this study investigates
Milwaukee's socioeconomic conditions at the block group level. These smaller
areas' statistics are then compared with those of their corresponding ZIP
codes. The 53206 ZIP code is compared against others in Milwaukee for eight
socioeconomic variables and is found to be near the extreme end of most
rankings. This ZIP code would also be among Chicago's most extreme areas, but
would lie near the middle of the rankings if located in Detroit. Parts of other
ZIP codes, which are often adjacent, are statistically similar to 53206,
however--suggesting that a focus solely on ZIP codes, while a convenient
shorthand, might overlook neighborhoods that have similar need for investment.
A multivariate index created for this study performs similarly to a standard
multivariate index of economic deprivation if spatial correlation is taken into
account, confirming that poverty and other socioeconomic stresses are
clustered, both in the 53206 ZIP code and across Milwaukee.
