St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church · Photo: Bill Eichelberger · CC BY-SA 4.0Wilder has lower unemployment (3.5%) than 61% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 18% of workers, against 10% across Kentucky. Jobs and income earn Wilder B−; getting around on foot earns it C. Only 1% work in Wilder; the top destination outside it is Cincinnati (19%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Wilder apart on work
A lot of Wilder workers cross into Ohio
33% of Wilder workers work outside Kentucky, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Cincinnati (19%) is one of the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Most Wilder residents work close to home
62% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Home offices are common in Wilder
18% of Wilder workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. 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.
Inside Wilder’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wilder is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #54 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Wilder’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wilder could be anywhere from C− to A.
Out of Wilder to work: where people go
Where Wilder clocks in
19% of workers
6% 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.
Where in the region Wilder works
About 15% 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.
Wilder’s commute takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wilder workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,289 commuters (the 18% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 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.
Who works in Wilder, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,614 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 2,013 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Wilder on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
66% of the jobs in Wilder pay over $3,333 a month
2,032 jobs are based in Wilder.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wilder, 2013 → 2023: 2,244 → 2,032. 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 Wilder’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Wilder gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wilder is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #115 of 142 in Kentucky. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,576 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 1% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.5% of Wilder households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wilder’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Wilder is 2,045th of 4,562 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 14 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,043 | Highgate VT | 3,575 | $81K | 8.1% | 2.4% | 6% | B− |
| 2,044 | Thunderbolt GA | 2,534 | $75K | 17.6% | 3.5% | 3% | B− |
| 2,045 | Wilder KY | 3,108 | $71K | 18.6% | 3.5% | 1% | B− |
| 2,046 | Crosslake MN | 2,412 | $80K | 8.6% | 1.6% | 22% | B− |
| 2,047 | Drumore Township PA | 2,635 | $83K | 8.7% | 4.0% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Wilder, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
15% of Wilder works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Covington (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wilder workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilder | – | B− | C | 20 min | $70,893 |
| Newport | 5% | C | A+ | 20 min | $60,853 |
| Covington | 6% | C+ | A | 22 min | $61,166 |
| Taylor Mill | under 2% | A− | B | 21 min | $88,546 |
| Southgate | under 2% | B− | B+ | 20 min | $54,421 |
| Highland Heights | 4% | B− | A+ | 20 min | $53,275 |
| Cold Spring | under 2% | B+ | A− | 22 min | $75,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wilder’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Wilder: questions
What is the median household income in Wilder?
$70,893 (±$20,635) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wilder?
18.6%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wilder?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wilder work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (19%, 7 mi), Covington (6%, 2 mi), Newport (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wilder walkable?
Wilder is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wilder without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wilder, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wilder
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.