Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0At 9.4%, unemployment in Onalaska is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Onalaska are D− for jobs and income and C for walkability. Measured by household income, Onalaska is behind 86% of U.S. towns. Only 5% work in Onalaska; the top destination outside it is Houston (11%, 74 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Onalaska in brief
Onalaska’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Onalaska is Houston, 74 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (98) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
48% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Onalaska are in trade, transport and utilities, against 20% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
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 902 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Onalaska gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Onalaska is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #622 of 642 in Texas. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Onalaska’s grade.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Onalaska could be anywhere from D− to B.
Short hops and long hauls from Onalaska
About 48% 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.
Jobs in Onalaska: what the 492 are
492 jobs are based in Onalaska.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Onalaska, 2013 → 2023: 469 → 492. 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 Onalaska’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Onalaska by day and by night
On a workday 856 residents head out to work, 46 work right here, and 446 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Onalaska on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.55 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Onalaska to work: where people go
Where Onalaska clocks in
11% of workers
11% 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.
Getting to work from Onalaska takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Onalaska workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,151 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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.
Most trips from Onalaska start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Onalaska is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #437 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,242 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.8% of Onalaska households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Onalaska’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Onalaska sits among U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,255 | Spindale NC | 4,180 | $41K | 21.8% | 12.6% | 6% | D− |
| 4,256 | Newcomerstown OH | 3,607 | $46K | 34.5% | 21.0% | 14% | D− |
| 4,257 | Onalaska TX | 3,289 | $52K | 23.7% | 9.4% | 5% | D− |
| 4,258 | Meigs Township OH | 3,811 | $60K | 21.8% | 8.6% | 10% | D− |
| 4,259 | Andover Township OH | 2,496 | $57K | 26.0% | 10.2% | 14% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | 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 Onalaska, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 Onalaska: questions
What is the median household income in Onalaska?
$51,912 (±$31,173) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Onalaska?
23.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Onalaska?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Onalaska work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (11%, 74 mi), Livingston (11%, 13 mi), Huntsville (5%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Onalaska walkable?
Onalaska is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Onalaska without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Onalaska, from the people who make the trip.
More of Onalaska
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.