Photo: Nyttend · Public domainLa Crosse has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hardly any stay in La Crosse for work; outside it, Valparaiso is the main destination (14%, 14 miles). Employers in La Crosse report 38 jobs, against 228 working residents. A typical one-way commute lasts 32 minutes; Indiana averages 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set La Crosse apart
La Crosse is a place people come home to
There are 38 jobs based in La Crosse, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday La Crosse has about 370 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
La Crosse workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 24 across Indiana. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 228 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
La Crosse by day and by night
On a workday 228 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 38 people come in from elsewhere.
About 370 people are in La Crosse on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long La Crosse spends getting to work: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Crosse workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 253 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Out of La Crosse to work: where people go
Where La Crosse clocks in
14% of workers
5% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
A place that makes things: 29% of La Crosse’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Crosse, 2013 → 2023: 22 → 38. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs La Crosse’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from La Crosse, by distance
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in La Crosse: questions
What is the median household income in La Crosse?
$74,107 (±$13,112) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Crosse?
12.6%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Crosse?
32 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Crosse work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Valparaiso (14%, 14 mi), La Porte (5%, 22 mi), Wanatah (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around La Crosse without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Crosse, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Crosse
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.