Photo: Jasperthedog28 · CC BY-SA 4.0Appleton has 1.2 jobs for every working resident: 35,714 people commute in to work
Jobs & income B+: better than 73% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #213 of 362 in Wisconsin.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns · #62 of 362 in Wisconsin.
Household incomes here are higher than in 57% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 19 minutes each way (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). About one in four work in Appleton; the top destination outside it is Grand Chute (11%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Appleton
What’s behind Appleton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Appleton is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #213 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($80,483, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Appleton could be anywhere from B to A−.
Half of Appleton commutes less than 6 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 15% 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.
Appleton fills up on a workday
On a workday 27,336 residents head out to work, 9,351 work right here, and 35,714 people come in from elsewhere.
About 84,000 people are in Appleton on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.23 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
11% of working residents work in Grand Chute
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Appleton clocks in
11% of workers
6% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 45,065 jobs in Appleton are
45,065 jobs are based in Appleton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Appleton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Appleton, 2013 → 2023: 45,046 → 45,065. 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.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Wisconsin
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Appleton workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 34,322 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Appleton is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Appleton is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #62 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Appleton 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 39,279 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). 5.5% of Appleton households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Appleton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Appleton is 232nd of 587 U.S. towns of 53,000 to 102,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Appleton, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Waukesha WI | 70,872 | $84K | 9.8% | 2.7% | 20% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 230 | Bolingbrook IL | 74,803 | $108K | 9.2% | 5.7% | 11% | B+ |
| 231 | Hacienda Heights CA | 54,291 | $109K | 11.3% | 5.1% | 4% | B+ |
| 232 | Appleton WI | 75,452 | $80K | 8.3% | 3.5% | 25% | B+ |
| 233 | Whittier CA | 85,815 | $97K | 9.1% | 5.4% | 8% | B+ |
| 234 | Buena Park CA | 81,741 | $111K | 8.8% | 5.6% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 326 | West Allis WI | 60,119 | $68K | 11.5% | 4.1% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 335 | Janesville WI | 66,929 | $73K | 9.0% | 4.1% | 40% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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.
22% of Appleton works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Grand Chute (11%). Darker towns draw more of Appleton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Appleton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appleton | – | B+ | A− | 19 min | $80,483 |
| Grand Chute | 11% | A | B+ | 18 min | $78,105 |
| Harrison | under 3% | A+ | C | 20 min | $121,504 |
| Freedom | under 3% | A+ | C+ | 22 min | $121,711 |
| Fox Crossing | 6% | A− | C+ | 18 min | $79,187 |
| Menasha | 3% | B | B | 22 min | $64,698 |
| Center | under 3% | A+ | C− | 28 min | $114,821 |
| Harrison | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
| Buchanan | under 3% | B+ | B− | 21 min | $105,478 |
| Kimberly | under 3% | B+ | A− | 17 min | $70,451 |
| Little Chute | 2% | A | B− | 19 min | $87,538 |
Same-state neighbors only. Harrison: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Appleton: questions
What is the median household income in Appleton?
$80,483 (±$3,317) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Appleton?
8.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Appleton?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Appleton work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Chute (11%, 3 mi), Neenah (6%, 9 mi), Fox Crossing (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Appleton walkable?
Appleton is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Appleton 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 Appleton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Appleton
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.