Unemployment in Arbor Vitae (1.2%) is lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Arbor Vitae for work; outside it, Minocqua is the main destination (19%, 14 miles). For jobs and income Arbor Vitae is better than 46% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (B+). Home is the office for 6% of workers (Wisconsin 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Arbor Vitae, in brief
Arbor Vitae has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Arbor Vitae went from 637 in 2013 to 1,023 in 2023, +61%. The jobs ↓
Arbor Vitae and Minocqua trade workers both ways
Minocqua is the top workplace for Arbor Vitae residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Arbor Vitae come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Arbor Vitae are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Arbor Vitae
Unemployment holds Arbor Vitae’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Arbor Vitae could be anywhere from C− to B+.
What Arbor Vitae’s employers do
1,023 jobs are based in Arbor Vitae.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arbor Vitae, 2013 → 2023: 637 → 1,023. 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 Arbor Vitae’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Arbor Vitae work
Where Arbor Vitae clocks in
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.
Each way, about 17 minutes from Arbor Vitae
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arbor Vitae workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,509 commuters (the 5% 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.
Where in the region Arbor Vitae works
About 34% 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.
In and out of Arbor Vitae on a workday
On a workday 1,218 residents head out to work, 172 work right here, and 851 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Arbor Vitae on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.74 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.
Few in Arbor Vitae walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 7.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,596 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). 2.5% of Arbor Vitae households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Arbor Vitae’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,271st of 4,221: where Arbor Vitae ranks among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,269 | Darien NY | 2,985 | $88K | 8.7% | 8.7% | 6% | B− |
| 2,270 | Jefferson Township PA | 3,883 | $92K | 8.0% | 11.7% | 4% | B− |
| 2,271 | Arbor Vitae WI | 3,503 | $73K | 11.8% | 1.2% | 12% | B− |
| 2,272 | Deerfield Township OH | 2,885 | $59K | 18.2% | 2.1% | 2% | B− |
| 2,273 | Sugar Creek MO | 3,209 | $62K | 14.6% | 4.8% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,221 | 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 Arbor Vitae, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Work next door: 14% of Arbor Vitae’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arbor Vitae workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbor Vitae | – | B− | B+ | 17 min | $72,583 |
| Lac du Flambeau | 6% | D− | C+ | 18 min | $57,009 |
| Woodruff | 3% | B− | A− | 19 min | $81,827 |
| Boulder Junction | 2% | C | B+ | 19 min | $74,919 |
| St. Germain | 3% | C− | C | 18 min | $62,875 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lac du Flambeau. Darker towns draw more of Arbor Vitae’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 Arbor Vitae: questions
What is the median household income in Arbor Vitae?
$72,583 (±$21,371) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arbor Vitae?
11.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arbor Vitae?
17 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arbor Vitae work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minocqua (19%, 14 mi), Lac du Flambeau (6%, 9 mi), Eagle River (5%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arbor Vitae walkable?
Arbor Vitae is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arbor Vitae 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 Arbor Vitae, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arbor Vitae
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.