Thomas Stone Barn · Photo: KellyMeer · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Brigham works elsewhere
Household incomes here are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns. 194 jobs are based in Brigham for 528 working residents. For jobs and income Brigham is better than 66% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (C−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Brigham
Brigham’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Brigham is Madison, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 25% of working residents (130) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Brigham workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 528 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Brigham
Household income holds Brigham’s grade up ($113,500, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (10.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (1.0%) is left out: Brigham’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, Brigham could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Near or far: the trip to work from Brigham
About 15% 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.
Brigham’s commute takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brigham workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 496 commuters (the 18% 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 a workday changes Brigham
On a workday 527 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 193 people come in from elsewhere.
About 730 people are in Brigham on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
25% of working residents work in Madison
Where Brigham clocks in
25% of workers
8% 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.
Brigham makes things: 73% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brigham, 2013 → 2023: 113 → 194. 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 Brigham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Brigham is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 604 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). 0.7% of Brigham households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brigham’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Brigham ranks: 590th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Kaukauna WI | 1,295 | $122K | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 588 | Shafer MN | 1,212 | $99K | 7.5% | 2.3% | 1% | B+ |
| 589 | Saltcreek Township IN | 1,158 | $111K | 6.5% | 0.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 590 | Brigham WI | 1,061 | $114K | 10.2% | 1.0% | <1% | B+ |
| 591 | Philo IL | 1,352 | $106K | 10.3% | 0.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 592 | Stedman NC | 1,312 | $107K | 7.5% | 1.7% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Brigham, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
How Brigham compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Moscow (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brigham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brigham | – | B+ | C− | 28 min | $113,500 |
| Ridgeway | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Arena | under 2% | B | D | 30 min | $97,375 |
| Moscow | 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Blue Mounds | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Ridgeway, Moscow and Blue Mounds: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brigham’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 Brigham: questions
What is the median household income in Brigham?
$113,500 (±$22,129) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brigham?
10.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brigham?
28 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brigham work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (25%, 26 mi), Dodgeville (8%, 11 mi), Barneveld (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brigham walkable?
Brigham is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brigham without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brigham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brigham
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.