Most of Alma Center commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Home is the office for 4% of workers, next to 13% for Wisconsin as a whole. 134 jobs are based in Alma Center, against 250 working residents. Only 5% work in Alma Center itself; outside it, Black River Falls draws the most (18%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Alma Center and work: the main findings
The trip to work from Alma Center: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alma Center workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 358 commuters (the 4% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Alma Center
On a workday 238 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 122 people come in from elsewhere.
About 360 people are in Alma Center on a workday afternoon, 25% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where Alma Center’s working residents head each day
Where Alma Center clocks in
Lines 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.
In Alma Center, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alma Center, 2014 → 2024: 102 → 134. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alma Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Alma Center works
About 24% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Next door is work for 17% of Alma Center
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alma Center workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alma Center | – | — | — | 18 min | $68,250 |
| Alma | 13% | C+ | D | 36 min | $76,029 |
| Garden Valley | 4% | — | — | 34 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Garden Valley: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Alma. Darker towns draw more of Alma Center’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 2024, 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 Alma Center: questions
What is the median household income in Alma Center?
$68,250 (±$11,435) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alma Center?
7.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alma Center?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alma Center work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Black River Falls (18%, 10 mi), Alma (13%, 3 mi), Brockway (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Alma Center 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 Alma Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alma Center
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.