Hourly Parking

First 30 minutes free, in the garage right by Main

Hourly Parking sits in the terminal garage at MKE, about 0.3 miles from the Main terminal doors. The airport marks this section on the 3rd and 4th floors, so you drive straight into the garage and follow signs for “Hourly.” This is short-stay parking only, with pricing set up for quick drop-offs, pickups, and airport errands rather than overnight trips.

Pricing is simple: 30 minutes or less is free, the second 30 minutes costs $2, and each additional hour or fraction is $2 until you hit the $27 per day cap. That structure makes sense for stays under 5 hours; anything longer starts creeping toward full-day prices. If you’re just walking someone in, grabbing a passenger from baggage claim, or running inside to fix a ticket issue, this is usually the cheapest way to get true terminal-front access.

Height limit is tight: 6 feet 11 inches for the Hourly levels on floors 3 and 4. Standard SUVs and sedans are fine, but tall cargo vans, lifted trucks, and some roof box setups may not clear. If your vehicle is close to that 6'11" mark, measure before you roll up, because the clearance bar is unforgiving and the ramp into the upper levels feels narrow when traffic stacks up at peak times.

Regulars treat Hourly as a tactical move: pull in, park on 3 or 4, walk a couple of minutes into Main, and roll out again inside the free 30-minute window. For pickups, text your passenger when you take a ticket so they’re already curbside. One practical tip: if you know you’ll go past an hour or two, price out the Daily or Surface lots first; at $27 per day, Hourly stops making sense once your “quick stop” turns into half a day.