Household incomes in Bloomer trail those of 77% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Bloomer are B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 3.9% of residents live below the poverty line, where Wisconsin as a whole has 10.6%. 4% of workers have no commute at all; Wisconsin has 13%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bloomer, in a few figures
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Bloomer
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bloomer is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #255 of 362 in Wisconsin. The poverty rate holds Bloomer’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($58,106, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bloomer could be anywhere from C to A−.
Getting to work from Bloomer takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bloomer workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,614 commuters (the 4% 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.
In and out of Bloomer on a workday
On a workday 1,274 residents head out to work, 391 work right here, and 1,740 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in Bloomer on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 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.
18% of working residents work in Eau Claire
Where Bloomer clocks in
10% 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.
Bloomer makes things: 34% of its jobs are in goods
2,131 jobs are based in Bloomer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bloomer, 2013 → 2023: 1,888 → 2,131. 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 Bloomer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Bloomer
About 18% 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.
In Bloomer, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bloomer is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #182 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Bloomer 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 1,682 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). 3.9% of Bloomer households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bloomer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900, Bloomer ranks 1,730th of 4,474 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,728 | Stonewall LA | 2,716 | $57K | 9.7% | 0.4% | 3% | B |
| 1,729 | Pleasant Valley WV | 3,457 | $68K | 9.0% | 2.2% | 6% | B |
| 1,730 | Bloomer WI | 3,634 | $58K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | B |
| 1,731 | Washington CT | 3,733 | $102K | 9.0% | 4.4% | 24% | B |
| 1,732 | Camargo Township IL | 3,507 | $77K | 6.1% | 3.2% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Bloomer, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Bloomer and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Woodmohr (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Bloomer’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 Bloomer: questions
What is the median household income in Bloomer?
$58,106 (±$15,724) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bloomer?
3.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bloomer?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bloomer work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eau Claire (18%, 20 mi), Chippewa Falls (10%, 13 mi), Lake Hallie (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bloomer walkable?
Bloomer is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bloomer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bloomer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bloomer
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.