Photo: Downspec · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Beaver Dam trail those of 63% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Beaver Dam itself; outside it, Madison draws the most (11%, 40 miles). Below the poverty line: 8.9% of residents, against 10.6% across Wisconsin. The two grades for Beaver Dam are B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Beaver Dam stands out on work
Beaver Dam’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Beaver Dam is Madison, 40 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (887) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Beaver Dam trades workers with the towns around it
Beaver Dam has about as many jobs (8,297) as working residents (8,269), but they are mostly different people: 6,152 residents leave for work each day while 6,180 people come in. Only 26% of the jobs in Beaver Dam are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Beaver Dam draws workers from far and wide
The 8,297 jobs in Beaver Dam are filled from a wide area. Beaver Dam’s own residents hold 26% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 55% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Beaver Dam
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Beaver Dam is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #276 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car holds Beaver Dam’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($66,673, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Beaver Dam could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
How far Beaver Dam’s workers travel
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.
Who leaves Beaver Dam for work, and who comes in
On a workday 6,152 residents head out to work, 2,117 work right here, and 6,180 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.00 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Beaver Dam goes to work
Where Beaver Dam clocks in
11% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
The kinds of work in Beaver Dam
8,297 jobs are based in Beaver Dam.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Beaver Dam, 2013 → 2023: 8,172 → 8,297. 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 Beaver Dam’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes to work from Beaver Dam
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Beaver Dam workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,079 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Beaver Dam
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Beaver Dam is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #65 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Beaver Dam near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,828 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). 5.9% of Beaver Dam households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Beaver Dam’s commuters take a bus or train.
Beaver Dam is 1,149th of 1,888 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 22,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Greenville WI | 13,388 | $118K | 1.7% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Whitefish Bay WI | 14,489 | $157K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Verona WI | 16,821 | $120K | 1.4% | 1.6% | 21% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,147 | Palmetto FL | 13,562 | $63K | 13.5% | 2.6% | 7% | B− |
| 1,148 | New Haven IN | 16,337 | $71K | 9.7% | 4.8% | 14% | B− |
| 1,149 | Beaver Dam WI | 16,542 | $67K | 8.9% | 3.7% | 26% | B− |
| 1,150 | Wellington CO | 12,169 | $107K | 8.8% | 6.5% | 6% | B− |
| 1,151 | Ocean Pines MD | 12,351 | $92K | 5.5% | 6.0% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,888 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Beaver Dam, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns around Beaver Dam
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Beaver Dam workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaver Dam | – | B− | A− | 25 min | $66,673 |
| Trenton | under 2% | A− | C+ | 24 min | $99,074 |
| Westford | under 2% | B | C | 23 min | $92,813 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Beaver Dam’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 Beaver Dam: questions
What is the median household income in Beaver Dam?
$66,673 (±$4,155) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Beaver Dam?
8.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Beaver Dam?
25 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Beaver Dam work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (11%, 40 mi), Juneau (4%, 8 mi), Horicon (3%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Beaver Dam walkable?
Beaver Dam is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Beaver Dam without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Beaver Dam, from the people who make the trip.
More of Beaver Dam
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.