With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Big Bend works elsewhere
Home is the office for 4% of workers; Wisconsin has 13%. Big Bend has 21 jobs; 175 of its residents have a job. Hardly any work in Big Bend; the top destination outside it is Ladysmith (15%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Big Bend
On a workday 174 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 20 people come in from elsewhere.
About 260 people are in Big Bend on a workday afternoon, 37% 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.
The places Big Bend commutes to
Where Big Bend clocks in
Lines 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.
What Big Bend’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Big Bend, 2013 → 2023: 6 → 21. 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 Big Bend’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 49 minutes in Big Bend
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Big Bend workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 189 commuters (the 5% 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.
How far Big Bend’s workers travel
About 21% 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.
Big Bend and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Big Bend workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Bend | – | — | — | 49 min | $67,813 |
| Washington | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Rusk | under 2% | — | — | 43 min | — |
| Stubbs | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Sampson | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Washington: the same community as the town of that name, graded once. Rusk, Stubbs and Sampson: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Big Bend’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 Big Bend: questions
What is the median household income in Big Bend?
$67,813 (±$13,027) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Big Bend?
12.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Big Bend?
49 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Big Bend work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ladysmith (15%, 14 mi), Eau Claire (10%, 37 mi), Rice Lake (9%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Big Bend 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 Big Bend, from the people who make the trip.
More of Big Bend
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.