With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Bear Lake works elsewhere
Bear Lake has 60 jobs; 269 of its residents have a job. Only 1% work in Bear Lake itself; outside it, Rice Lake draws the most (27%, 9 miles). For 3% of workers, the job is at home, against 13% across Wisconsin.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Bear Lake apart on work
Bear Lake and Rice Lake trade workers both ways
Rice Lake is the top workplace for Bear Lake residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Bear Lake come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Bear Lake is a place people come home to
There are 60 jobs based in Bear Lake, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Bear Lake has about 460 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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; with 269 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The places Bear Lake commutes to
Where Bear Lake clocks in
6% 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.
Who commutes out of Bear Lake, and who commutes in
On a workday 265 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 56 people come in from elsewhere.
About 460 people are in Bear Lake on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Miles to work from Bear Lake
About 33% 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.
What Bear Lake’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bear Lake, 2013 → 2023: 18 → 60. 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 Bear Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Bear Lake
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bear Lake workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 362 commuters (the 3% 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 towns around Bear Lake
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bear Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Lake | – | — | — | 19 min | $82,083 |
| Lakeland | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Sarona | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Oak Grove | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Stanfold | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lakeland, Sarona and Stanfold: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Oak Grove: the same community as the town of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bear Lake’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 Bear Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Bear Lake?
$82,083 (±$17,717) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bear Lake?
7.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bear Lake?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bear Lake work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rice Lake (27%, 9 mi), Eau Claire (7%, 56 mi), Cumberland (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bear Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bear Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bear Lake
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.