Work and commuting in Boulder Junction
Only 7% work in Boulder Junction; the top destination outside it is Arbor Vitae (7%, 9 miles). The two grades for Boulder Junction are C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. A typical one-way commute lasts 19 minutes, next to 22 for Wisconsin and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Boulder Junction: the figures worth knowing
A lot of Boulder Junction works one town over
27% of working residents work in a town that borders Boulder Junction: Arbor Vitae (7%), Lac du Flambeau (7%) and Manitowish Waters (5%). Next door ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 336 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Boulder Junction’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Boulder Junction is better than 27% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Boulder Junction’s grade up (9.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.2%) is left out: Boulder Junction’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Boulder Junction could be anywhere from D to B.
Near or far: the trip to work from Boulder Junction
About 35% 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.
How a workday changes Boulder Junction
On a workday 312 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 229 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 (0.75 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 Boulder Junction’s working residents head each day
Where Boulder Junction 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 the 253 jobs in Boulder Junction are
253 jobs are based in Boulder Junction.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Boulder Junction, 2013 → 2023: 284 → 253. 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 Boulder Junction’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Boulder Junction workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 674 commuters (the 11% 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.
Most trips from Boulder Junction start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Boulder Junction is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 755 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). 7.5% of Boulder Junction households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Boulder Junction’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500, Boulder Junction comes 2,221st 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 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,219 | Cherry Township PA | 1,041 | $73K | 11.2% | 5.9% | 9% | C |
| 2,220 | Dunn WI | 1,477 | $75K | 13.4% | 9.0% | <1% | C |
| 2,221 | Boulder Junction WI | 1,075 | $75K | 9.7% | 2.2% | 7% | C |
| 2,222 | Strawberry AZ | 1,094 | $60K | 5.7% | 0.0% | 2% | C |
| 2,223 | Angel Fire NM | 1,170 | $108K | 18.0% | 1.2% | 28% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Boulder Junction, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door is work for 27% of Boulder Junction
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Boulder Junction workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder Junction | – | C | B+ | 19 min | $74,919 |
| Presque Isle | 4% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Arbor Vitae | 7% | B− | B+ | 17 min | $72,583 |
| Manitowish Waters | 5% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Lac du Flambeau | 7% | D− | C+ | 18 min | $57,009 |
| Plum Lake | 4% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Land O'Lakes | under 3% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Presque Isle, Manitowish Waters, Plum Lake and Land O'Lakes: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Arbor Vitae. Darker towns draw more of Boulder Junction’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 Boulder Junction: questions
What is the median household income in Boulder Junction?
$74,919 (±$14,747) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Boulder Junction?
9.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Boulder Junction?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Boulder Junction work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Arbor Vitae (7%, 9 mi), Minocqua (7%, 21 mi), Lac du Flambeau (7%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Boulder Junction walkable?
Boulder Junction is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Boulder Junction without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Boulder Junction, from the people who make the trip.
More of Boulder Junction
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.