Photo: Williamborg 18:50, 24 May 2008 (UTC) · Public domainHow LaCrosse works: jobs, income and commuting
The trip to work takes 19 minutes on average (Washington 27, U.S. 26). Home is the office for 4% of workers, next to 20% for Washington as a whole. Only 5% work in LaCrosse; the top destination outside it is Pullman (28%, 36 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves LaCrosse for work, and who comes in
On a workday 110 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 64 people come in from elsewhere.
About 240 people are in LaCrosse on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.60 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.
Where the trip to work from LaCrosse ends
Where LaCrosse clocks in
6% 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.
Most jobs in LaCrosse are in services
70 jobs are based in LaCrosse.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in LaCrosse, 2013 → 2023: 51 → 70. 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 LaCrosse’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from LaCrosse: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of LaCrosse workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 129 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Washington: 79% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The distance from LaCrosse to work
About 32% 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 LaCrosse: questions
What is the median household income in LaCrosse?
$33,621 (±$928) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in LaCrosse?
19.2%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from LaCrosse?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in LaCrosse work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pullman (28%, 36 mi), Moscow (6%, 44 mi), Lewiston (6%, 52 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around LaCrosse 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 LaCrosse, from the people who make the trip.
More of LaCrosse
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.