With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Barnes works elsewhere
For 23% of workers, the job is at home, next to 13% for Wisconsin as a whole. There are 96 jobs in Barnes, and 281 of its residents work somewhere. Working residents average 42 minutes each way, where Wisconsin has 22 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Barnes
Barnes workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 42 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 322 hours of commuting, 153 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Barnes works from home
23% of Barnes workers work from home, against 13% across Wisconsin. Time on the road ↓
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 281 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Each way, about 42 minutes from Barnes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Barnes workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 195 commuters (the 23% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Barnes
On a workday 268 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 83 people come in from elsewhere.
About 680 people are in Barnes on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
14% of working residents work in Cable
Where Barnes clocks in
7% 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.
In Barnes, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Barnes, 2013 → 2023: 45 → 96. 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 Barnes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Barnes goes to work
About 27% 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 towns next door employ 14% of Barnes
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Barnes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnes | – | — | — | 42 min | $74,167 |
| Highland | under 3% | — | — | 42 min | — |
| Drummond | under 3% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Delta | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Cable | 14% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Hughes | under 3% | — | — | 42 min | — |
| Lenroot | under 3% | C− | C+ | 20 min | $64,250 |
| Gordon | under 3% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Wascott | under 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Highland, Drummond, Delta, Cable, Hughes, Gordon and Wascott: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cable. Darker towns draw more of Barnes’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 Barnes: questions
What is the median household income in Barnes?
$74,167 (±$7,186) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Barnes?
10.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Barnes?
42 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Barnes work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cable (14%, 11 mi), Ashland (7%, 35 mi), Superior (7%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Barnes without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Barnes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Barnes
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.