Brown Deer School · Photo: Freekee · CC0Household incomes in Brown Deer are higher than in 72% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Brown Deer are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Poverty touches 6.9% of residents; Wisconsin has 10.6%. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 12.9 in Milwaukee.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Brown Deer at work: what stands out
Brown Deer and Milwaukee trade workers both ways
Milwaukee is the top workplace for Brown Deer residents (36%) and also where the most people who work in Brown Deer come from (30% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Brown Deer works from home
23% of Brown Deer workers work from home, against 13% across Wisconsin. Time on the road ↓
Brown Deer gains people on a workday
About 16,000 people are in Brown Deer on a workday afternoon, 22% more than the 13,000 who live here: 8,800 come in to work and 6,000 head out. Day and night ↓
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 Brown Deer gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brown Deer is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #190 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car holds Brown Deer’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brown Deer could be anywhere from B to A+.
36% of working residents work in Milwaukee
Where Brown Deer clocks in
36% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
How long Brown Deer spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brown Deer workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,333 commuters (the 22% 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.
A workday in Brown Deer: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 5,967 residents head out to work, 408 work right here, and 8,753 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Brown Deer on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 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.
68% of the jobs in Brown Deer pay over $3,333 a month
9,161 jobs are based in Brown Deer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brown Deer, 2013 → 2023: 7,226 → 9,161. 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 Brown Deer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Brown Deer 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Brown Deer
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brown Deer is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #56 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% 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 6,878 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 76% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 15% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 5.9% of Brown Deer households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Brown Deer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000, Brown Deer ranks 834th of 2,354 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Greenville WI | 13,388 | $118K | 1.7% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Whitefish Bay WI | 14,489 | $157K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Verona WI | 16,821 | $120K | 1.4% | 1.6% | 21% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 832 | Frankfort Square IL | 9,560 | $127K | 6.4% | 7.4% | 2% | A− |
| 833 | Cold Springs NV | 11,321 | $94K | 3.9% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| 834 | Brown Deer WI | 12,821 | $94K | 6.9% | 5.0% | 6% | A− |
| 835 | Centre Township IN | 14,444 | $79K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 5% | A− |
| 836 | Bordentown Township NJ | 12,821 | $110K | 7.3% | 5.6% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Brown Deer, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door is work for 36% of Brown Deer
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brown Deer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown Deer | – | A− | A− | 22 min | $93,974 |
| River Hills | under 2% | A+ | B | 24 min | $204,427 |
| Milwaukee | 36% | C | A+ | 22 min | $54,234 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Milwaukee. Darker towns draw more of Brown Deer’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 Brown Deer: questions
What is the median household income in Brown Deer?
$93,974 (±$16,025) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brown Deer?
6.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brown Deer?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brown Deer work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (36%, 8 mi), Wauwatosa (6%, 8 mi), Mequon (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brown Deer walkable?
Brown Deer is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brown Deer without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 15% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brown Deer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brown Deer
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.