With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Aurora works elsewhere
Only 5% work in Aurora; the top destination outside it is Iron Mountain (25%, 5 miles). Employers in Aurora report 130 jobs, and 441 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Aurora are C+ for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Aurora
Many Aurora workers cross into Michigan
56% of Aurora workers work outside Wisconsin, most of them in Michigan, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Aurora and Iron Mountain trade workers both ways
Iron Mountain is the top workplace for Aurora residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Aurora come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Aurora is a place people come home to
There are 130 jobs based in Aurora, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Aurora has about 710 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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; with 441 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Aurora’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Aurora is better than 41% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Aurora’s grade up (5.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (5.3%) is left out: Aurora’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, Aurora could be anywhere from C to B−.
Commuting out of Aurora: the destinations
Where Aurora clocks in
25% of workers
7% 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.
How a workday changes Aurora
On a workday 417 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 106 people come in from elsewhere.
About 710 people are in Aurora on a workday afternoon, 30% 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.
Jobs in Aurora: what the 130 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Aurora, 2013 → 2023: 110 → 130. 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 Aurora’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Aurora: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Aurora workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 406 commuters (the 8% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Aurora
About 28% 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.
The commute in Aurora is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Aurora is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 442 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). 1.5% of Aurora households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Aurora’s commuters take a bus or train.
Aurora next to U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400: 1,324th of 3,133 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,322 | Morrill ME | 1,031 | $74K | 6.3% | 3.7% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,323 | Madison Township OH | 1,386 | $71K | 9.7% | 0.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,324 | Aurora WI | 1,020 | $79K | 5.8% | 5.3% | 5% | C+ |
| 1,325 | Panaca NV | 1,015 | $64K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 5% | C+ |
| 1,326 | Onarga IL | 1,305 | $78K | 8.6% | 3.8% | 6% | 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 Aurora, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
24% of Aurora works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Florence (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Aurora workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | – | C+ | D | 20 min | $78,935 |
| Florence | 12% | C− | C− | 18 min | $58,832 |
| Homestead | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Dunbar | under 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Niagara | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Commonwealth | under 2% | — | — | 14 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Homestead, Dunbar and Commonwealth: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Niagara: the same community as the city of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Aurora’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 Aurora: questions
What is the median household income in Aurora?
$78,935 (±$6,963) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Aurora?
5.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Aurora?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Aurora work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Iron Mountain (25%, 5 mi), Florence (12%, 17 mi), Kingsford (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Aurora walkable?
Aurora is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Aurora 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 Aurora, from the people who make the trip.
More of Aurora
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.