Photo: Chris Rand · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer people are out of work in Algoma (0.8%) than in 96% of U.S. towns
At 22 minutes each way, commutes from Algoma run about the Wisconsin average. Algoma grades B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in four work in Algoma itself; outside it, Sturgeon Bay draws the most (14%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Algoma in brief
Algoma makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Algoma are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Algoma residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 37%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Algoma than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Algoma fell from 1,525 in 2013 to 1,053 in 2023, −31%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
Algoma’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Algoma is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #305 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Algoma’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (16.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Algoma could be anywhere from C to B.
Making and building: 40% of jobs based in Algoma
1,053 jobs are based in Algoma.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Algoma, 2013 → 2023: 1,525 → 1,053. 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 Algoma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Algoma quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,160 residents head out to work, 378 work right here, and 675 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Algoma on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.68 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 people from Algoma work
Where Algoma clocks in
14% of workers
8% 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.
About 22 minutes each way, about the WI average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Algoma workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,247 commuters (the 9% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Algoma
About 22% 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.
For most of Algoma, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Algoma is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #100 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,370 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). 6.1% of Algoma households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Algoma’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Algoma is 2,397th among 4,453 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,395 | Lincoln ID | 4,002 | $84K | 18.4% | 4.5% | 2% | B− |
| 2,396 | Southgate KY | 3,868 | $54K | 19.8% | 3.2% | 1% | B− |
| 2,397 | Algoma WI | 3,225 | $64K | 16.8% | 0.8% | 25% | B− |
| 2,398 | St. Croix Falls WI | 2,370 | $65K | 3.4% | 6.1% | 15% | B− |
| 2,399 | Franklin Township IN | 3,675 | $67K | 10.1% | 2.4% | 8% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Algoma, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door to Algoma
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Algoma workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algoma | – | B− | B+ | 22 min | $64,487 |
| Ahnapee | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Ahnapee: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Algoma’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 Algoma: questions
What is the median household income in Algoma?
$64,487 (±$6,517) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Algoma?
16.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Algoma?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Algoma work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sturgeon Bay (14%, 16 mi), Green Bay (8%, 27 mi), Luxemburg (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Algoma walkable?
Algoma is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Algoma without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Algoma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Algoma
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.