Most of Alma commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
About one in seven work in Alma; the top destination outside it is Black River Falls (18%, 10 miles). 226 jobs are based in Alma, and 511 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Alma C+; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Alma and work: the main findings
The four measures behind Alma’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Alma is better than 42% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Alma’s grade up (7.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out: Alma’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Alma could be anywhere from C− to B.
Alma’s commute takes about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alma workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 375 commuters (the 7% 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.
Who leaves Alma for work, and who comes in
On a workday 448 residents head out to work, 63 work right here, and 163 people come in from elsewhere.
About 760 people are in Alma on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
The towns that employ Alma’s residents
Where Alma clocks in
3% 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.
Goods jobs make up 66% of work in Alma
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alma, 2013 → 2023: 142 → 226. 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 Alma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Alma commutes less than 14 miles
About 25% 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.
Most trips from Alma start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alma is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Alma near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 403 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). 3.1% of Alma households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alma’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400, Alma comes 1,291st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Kaukauna WI | 1,295 | $122K | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,289 | Jackson Township IN | 1,397 | $62K | 7.1% | 1.3% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,290 | Fayette Township MI | 1,107 | $76K | 11.4% | 1.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,291 | Alma WI | 1,040 | $76K | 7.2% | 5.2% | 12% | C+ |
| 1,292 | Umapine OR | 1,215 | $56K | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0% | C+ |
| 1,293 | Topeka IN | 1,229 | $63K | 7.9% | 12.3% | 19% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Alma, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Alma and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Garden Valley (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alma workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alma | – | C+ | D | 36 min | $76,029 |
| Garden Valley | 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Adams | under 2% | C+ | D | 26 min | $75,750 |
| Alma Center | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Dewhurst | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Hixton | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Mentor | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Hewett | under 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Garden Valley, Alma Center, Dewhurst, Hixton, Mentor and Hewett: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Alma’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 Alma: questions
What is the median household income in Alma?
$76,029 (±$10,159) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alma?
7.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alma?
36 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alma work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Black River Falls (18%, 10 mi), Brockway (9%, 11 mi), La Crosse (3%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alma walkable?
Alma is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alma without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alma
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.