Milwaukee is the most populous city in the state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the 31st-most populous city in the United States and the fifth-most populous city in the Midwest with a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census. The Milwaukee metropolitan area, with over 1.57 million residents, is the 40th-largest metropolitan area in the nation. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County.