Photo: Awkwafaba · CC BY-SA 3.0Big Bend has higher household incomes than 93% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 3.2% of residents, next to 10.6% for Wisconsin as a whole. Jobs and income earn Big Bend A+; getting around on foot earns it C−. Only 4% stay in Big Bend for work; outside it, Milwaukee is the main destination (13%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Big Bend at work: what stands out
The better-paid jobs are outside Big Bend
70% of Big Bend residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 49% of the jobs based in Big Bend pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Big Bend pay little
27% of the jobs based in Big Bend pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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 647 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Big Bend’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Big Bend is among the top U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Big Bend’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.6%) is left out: Big Bend’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, Big Bend could be anywhere from A to A+.
A place that makes things: 30% of Big Bend’s jobs are in goods
608 jobs are based in Big Bend.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Big Bend, 2013 → 2023: 524 → 608. 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.
Who works in Big Bend, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 623 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 584 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 (0.94 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 Big Bend’s working residents head each day
Where Big Bend clocks in
13% of workers
9% of workers
9% 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.
Getting to work from Big Bend takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 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 580 commuters (the 14% 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 commute from Big Bend, by distance
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.
For most of Big Bend, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Big Bend is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of 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 671 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Big Bend households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Big Bend’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000, Big Bend ranks 73rd of 6,308 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Audubon Park KY | 1,457 | $101K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 72 | New Market MD | 1,609 | $203K | 0.8% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 73 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| 74 | River Hills WI | 1,555 | $204K | 5.1% | 1.4% | 4% | A+ |
| 75 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Big Bend, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns around Big Bend
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Muskego. 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?
$134,615 (±$26,401) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Big Bend?
3.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Big Bend?
25 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Big Bend work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (13%, 17 mi), Waukesha (9%, 9 mi), New Berlin (9%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Big Bend walkable?
Big Bend is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Big Bend without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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. 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.