Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Households in Athens earn less than those in 84% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 14.6%, where Wisconsin as a whole has 10.6%. Jobs and income earn Athens C−; getting around on foot earns it B−. About one in ten stay in Athens for work; outside it, Wausau is the main destination (16%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Athens
Inside Athens’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Athens is better than 17% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Athens’ grade up (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($52,750, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.3%) is left out: Athens’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, Athens could be anywhere from D to C+.
In Athens, 36% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
363 jobs are based in Athens.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Athens, 2013 → 2023: 271 → 363. 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 Athens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Athens
On a workday 442 residents head out to work, 42 work right here, and 321 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Athens on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.75 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.
The places Athens commutes to
Where Athens clocks in
16% 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.
Commuting from Athens: about 26 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Athens workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 458 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Athens
About 23% 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 Athens start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Athens is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 491 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). 5.1% of Athens households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Athens’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Athens ranks: 3,126th of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,124 | Bridgeport OH | 1,523 | $54K | 16.3% | 5.8% | 3% | C− |
| 3,125 | Courtland VA | 1,299 | $61K | 13.5% | 11.6% | 6% | C− |
| 3,126 | Athens WI | 1,190 | $53K | 14.6% | 2.3% | 9% | C− |
| 3,127 | Newcastle Township IN | 1,368 | $49K | 11.7% | 5.8% | 1% | C− |
| 3,128 | Shelby Township IN | 1,134 | $58K | 11.9% | 0.0% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 Athens, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Athens and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Johnson (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Athens workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | – | C− | B− | 26 min | $52,750 |
| Rietbrock | under 3% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Bern | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Johnson | 5% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Halsey | under 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Rietbrock, Bern, Johnson and Halsey: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Athens’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 Athens: questions
What is the median household income in Athens?
$52,750 (±$9,828) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Athens?
14.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Athens?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Athens work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wausau (16%, 22 mi), Marshfield (6%, 26 mi), Medford (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Athens walkable?
Athens is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Athens without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Athens, from the people who make the trip.
More of Athens
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.