Alden has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Only 2% work in Alden; the top destination outside it is New Richmond (9%, 9 miles). Alden has 107 jobs, and 1,630 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Alden B+; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Alden: the gist
Alden workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 92 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Alden is a place people come home to
There are 107 jobs based in Alden, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Alden has about 1,500 people in it, 50% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
The figures behind Alden’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Alden is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #218 of 362 in Wisconsin. The poverty rate holds Alden’s grade up (2.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alden could be anywhere from B− to A.
Getting to work from Alden takes about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alden workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,272 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% 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.
A workday in Alden: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,604 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 81 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Alden on a workday afternoon, 50% 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.
Where people from Alden work
Where Alden clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
Alden makes things: 39% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alden, 2013 → 2023: 115 → 107. 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 Alden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Alden’s workers travel
About 19% 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.
Driving is how Alden gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alden is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #229 of 362 in Wisconsin. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 3.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,516 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). 2.2% of Alden households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Alden places 1,210th of 4,771 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,208 | Ravenna Township MI | 3,045 | $76K | 6.0% | 2.9% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,209 | Halfmoon Township PA | 2,805 | $121K | 3.5% | 4.6% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,210 | Alden WI | 3,019 | $95K | 2.8% | 3.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,211 | Grand Point LA | 2,341 | $89K | 5.1% | 4.6% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,212 | Diamond IL | 2,714 | $73K | 10.5% | 0.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Alden, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door to Alden
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alden workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alden | – | B+ | C+ | 34 min | $94,878 |
| Garfield | under 2% | B+ | C | 32 min | $98,889 |
| Black Brook | under 2% | B+ | D | 30 min | $102,963 |
| Farmington | under 2% | A | C | 35 min | $115,172 |
| Star Prairie | under 2% | A | D | 31 min | $101,518 |
| Stanton | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Star Prairie | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Osceola | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Stanton: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Star Prairie and Osceola: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Alden’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 Alden: questions
What is the median household income in Alden?
$94,878 (±$9,214) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alden?
2.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alden?
34 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alden work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Richmond (9%, 9 mi), Amery (7%, 8 mi), Osceola (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alden walkable?
Alden is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 3.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alden 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 Alden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alden
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.