Bristol has higher household incomes than 94% of U.S. towns
For 21% of workers, the job is at home (Wisconsin 13%). 1.2% of residents live below the poverty line, where Wisconsin as a whole has 10.6%. Jobs and income earn Bristol A+; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bristol, in a few figures
42% of Bristol works in Madison
965 working residents, 42%, have their main job in Madison, 17 miles away. That’s 21 times as many as work in Bristol itself. The commute map ↓
Bristol has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Bristol went from 377 in 2013 to 654 in 2023, +73%. The jobs ↓
Bristol is a place people come home to
There are 654 jobs based in Bristol, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Bristol has about 2,700 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Bristol
21% of Bristol workers work from home, against 13% across Wisconsin. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Bristol: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bristol is among the top U.S. towns, #6 of 362 in Wisconsin. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bristol stays A+.
42% of working residents work in Madison
Where Bristol clocks in
42% of workers
2% 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.
71% of the jobs in Bristol pay over $3,333 a month
654 jobs are based in Bristol.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bristol, 2013 → 2023: 377 → 654. 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 Bristol’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Bristol on a workday
On a workday 2,249 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 619 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Bristol on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
0.29 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Bristol
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bristol workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,794 commuters (the 21% 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 many miles Bristol commutes
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 Bristol, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bristol is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #147 of 362 in Wisconsin. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, the same share as across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,266 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). 0.5% of Bristol households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bristol’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Bristol is 66th among 4,136 U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 65 | Shavano Park TX | 3,861 | $165K | 2.3% | 2.6% | 2% | A+ |
| 66 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 67 | Brookmont MD | 3,671 | $247K | 2.8% | 3.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 68 | Beechwood Trails OH | 3,133 | $111K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Center WI | 3,706 | $115K | 1.6% | 0.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,136 | 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 Bristol, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns next door employ 16% of Bristol
The biggest share goes to Sun Prairie (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bristol workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | – | A+ | B | 22 min | $141,010 |
| Sun Prairie | 15% | A | A− | 22 min | $90,942 |
| Hampden | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| York | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Windsor | under 2% | A+ | C+ | 21 min | $120,048 |
| Sun Prairie | 1% | A+ | D | 23 min | $127,321 |
Same-state neighbors only. Hampden: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. York: the same community as the town of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bristol’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 Bristol: questions
What is the median household income in Bristol?
$141,010 (±$16,974) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bristol?
1.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bristol?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bristol work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (42%, 17 mi), Sun Prairie (15%, 5 mi), Middleton (2%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bristol walkable?
Bristol is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bristol 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 Bristol, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bristol
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.