MARS

The Milwaukee Area Renters Study (MARS) 

The Milwaukee Area Renters Study (MARS) is an original survey of tenants in Milwaukee's low-income private housing sector. Administered by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center (UWSC) in 2009-2011, the MARS survey collected questionnaires from more than 1,000 households, administered via in-person interviews.  The survey collects data on tenants' current housing situations, neighborhood characteristics, civic engagement, material hardship and social suffering, and social networks. The bulk of the survey collects a two-year residential history from all respondents. This housing history module asks renters about previous housing conditions, rental behavior, landlords and building managers, and household rosters; it also documents the number of moves each tenant has made in the previous two years as well as the reasons for those moves. Not only does the MARS study collect new data on the causes and consequences of eviction, it also provides information about urban poverty, inner-city neighborhoods, the low-income housing market, and social networks.

Mars Lab Team

Matthew Desmond

Matthew Desmond

Principal Investigator
John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University
Weihua An

Weihua An

Assistant Professor of Sociology and Statistics, Indiana University

MARS Survey Team

Charlie Palit

Survey Statistician, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jessica Price

Senior Project Director, University of Wisconsin Survey Center