Bradley at work: jobs, income and the commute
About one in ten stay in Bradley for work; outside it, Tomahawk is the main destination (17%, 6 miles). Jobs and income earn Bradley C+; getting around on foot earns it D. Commuters spend 27 minutes getting to work on average; Wisconsin averages 22, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bradley: the figures worth knowing
Bradley makes and builds things
79% of the jobs based in Bradley are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bradley residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Bradley pay better than its residents’ jobs
82% of the jobs based in Bradley pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 59% of the jobs Bradley residents hold. 88% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Bradley. The jobs ↓
Bradley and Tomahawk trade workers both ways
Tomahawk is the top workplace for Bradley residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Bradley come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Bradley workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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.
Inside Bradley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Bradley is better than 41% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Bradley’s grade up (6.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.6%) is left out: Bradley’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, Bradley could be anywhere from C to B.
Making and building: 79% of jobs based in Bradley
880 jobs are based in Bradley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bradley, 2013 → 2023: 789 → 880. 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 Bradley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Bradley’s residents
Where Bradley clocks in
17% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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.
Bradley’s commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bradley workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 686 commuters (the 16% 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.
Where in the region Bradley works
About 34% 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 many people are in Bradley by day
On a workday 1,025 residents head out to work, 104 work right here, and 776 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Bradley on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 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.
Getting around Bradley: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bradley is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Bradley 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 814 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). 3.7% of Bradley households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bradley’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Bradley is 2,795th of 5,207 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Sun Prairie WI | 2,291 | $127K | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,793 | Ashford NY | 1,918 | $78K | 6.4% | 1.3% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,794 | St. Joseph Township OH | 2,633 | $50K | 12.1% | 2.2% | 18% | C+ |
| 2,795 | Bradley WI | 2,425 | $76K | 6.3% | 1.6% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,796 | Angwin CA | 2,931 | $118K | 10.3% | 7.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,797 | Seminole Manor FL | 2,678 | $66K | 10.4% | 10.4% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Bradley, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns around Bradley
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bradley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradley | – | C+ | D | 27 min | $76,193 |
| Skanawan | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| King | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Nokomis | under 2% | C+ | D− | 26 min | $91,352 |
| Tomahawk | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Rock Falls | under 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Wilson | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Skanawan, King and Rock Falls: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Tomahawk and Wilson: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bradley’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 Bradley: questions
What is the median household income in Bradley?
$76,193 (±$8,143) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bradley?
6.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bradley?
27 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bradley work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tomahawk (17%, 6 mi), Merrill (7%, 16 mi), Rhinelander (7%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bradley walkable?
Bradley is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bradley 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 Bradley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bradley
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.