Photo: Chris Favero from USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Brookfield earn more than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 3.2% of residents (Wisconsin 10.6%). Brookfield grades A+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. For 22% of workers, the job is at home, against 13% across Wisconsin.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Brookfield, in brief
Brookfield is where the jobs are
Brookfield has 40,704 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 62,000 people are in town, 49% more than the 41,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Brookfield and Milwaukee trade workers both ways
Milwaukee is the top workplace for Brookfield residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Brookfield come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Brookfield residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Home offices are common in Brookfield
22% of Brookfield 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.
Why Brookfield gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brookfield is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #17 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brookfield stays A+.
Brookfield fills up on a workday
On a workday 17,783 residents head out to work, 2,494 work right here, and 38,210 people come in from elsewhere.
About 62,000 people are in Brookfield on a workday afternoon, 49% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The towns that send workers to Brookfield
Where Brookfield clocks in
23% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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.
The distance from Brookfield to work
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.
Brookfield’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookfield workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,694 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.
Inside Brookfield’s 40,704 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookfield, 2013 → 2023: 36,673 → 40,704. 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 Brookfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Brookfield walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brookfield is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #137 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 19,980 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 14% 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 2.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 1.6% of Brookfield households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Brookfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Brookfield is 15th among 1,037 U.S. towns of 29,000 to 56,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Dublin OH | 49,094 | $160K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 15% | A+ |
| 14 | Brentwood TN | 45,313 | $182K | 3.6% | 2.6% | 12% | A+ |
| 15 | Brookfield WI | 41,448 | $130K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 12% | A+ |
| 16 | Washington Township OH | 51,915 | $148K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 15% | A+ |
| 17 | Eastchester NY | 34,015 | $156K | 4.8% | 2.6% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | New Berlin WI | 39,953 | $101K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Oak Creek WI | 38,296 | $97K | 4.9% | 1.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Menomonee Falls WI | 41,291 | $100K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,037 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Brookfield, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns next door employ 21% of Brookfield
The biggest share goes to Wauwatosa (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brookfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield | – | A+ | B | 21 min | $129,548 |
| Elm Grove | under 2% | A+ | B | 19 min | $158,016 |
| New Berlin | 3% | A+ | C | 22 min | $101,091 |
| Butler | under 2% | B | A− | 21 min | $60,000 |
| Menomonee Falls | 5% | A | B− | 21 min | $100,238 |
| West Allis | 3% | B | A | 21 min | $67,611 |
| Wauwatosa | 10% | A | A | 20 min | $101,138 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brookfield’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 Brookfield: questions
What is the median household income in Brookfield?
$129,548 (±$5,805) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookfield?
3.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookfield?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookfield work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (23%, 8 mi), Wauwatosa (10%, 4 mi), Waukesha (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookfield walkable?
Brookfield is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookfield without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookfield
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.