About half of Brunswick’s working residents commute to Eau Claire
Only 1% work in Brunswick; the top destination outside it is Eau Claire (46%, 8 miles). Jobs and income earn Brunswick A−; getting around on foot earns it C. Measured by household income, Brunswick is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Brunswick apart
Nearly half of Brunswick works in Eau Claire
376 working residents, 46%, have their main job in Eau Claire, 8.1 miles away across the town line. That’s 46 times as many as work in Brunswick itself. The commute map ↓
Brunswick is a place people come home to
There are 187 jobs based in Brunswick, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Brunswick has about 1,300 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. 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; with 814 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Brunswick’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brunswick is better than 82% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Brunswick’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brunswick could be anywhere from B− to A.
The towns that employ Brunswick’s residents
Where Brunswick clocks in
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.
The daily flow of workers through Brunswick
On a workday 802 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 175 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Brunswick on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.23 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.
Jobs in Brunswick: what the 187 are
187 jobs are based in Brunswick.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brunswick, 2013 → 2023: 136 → 187. 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 Brunswick’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Brunswick takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brunswick workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 767 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.
Where in the region Brunswick works
About 19% 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.
The commute in Brunswick is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brunswick is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 932 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). 1.8% of Brunswick households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Brunswick’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Brunswick ranks: 611th of 5,234 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 38 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 609 | Hanna Township IL | 2,337 | $111K | 6.6% | 2.2% | 2% | A− |
| 610 | Richland Township NE | 1,432 | $91K | 2.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A− |
| 611 | Brunswick WI | 1,929 | $92K | 3.5% | 2.6% | 1% | A− |
| 612 | Greenfield WI | 2,177 | $105K | 6.9% | 1.8% | 2% | A− |
| 613 | La Salle CO | 2,304 | $96K | 7.9% | 1.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | 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 Brunswick, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Bordering towns draw 52% of Brunswick’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brunswick workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brunswick | – | A− | C | 23 min | $92,426 |
| Union | 2% | A | C | 17 min | $95,217 |
| Eau Claire | 46% | B− | A− | 17 min | $67,395 |
| Rock Creek | under 2% | A− | C− | 28 min | $104,000 |
| Washington | 2% | A | C+ | 18 min | $109,984 |
| Drammen | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Pleasant Valley | 2% | A+ | C− | 17 min | $139,659 |
Same-state neighbors only. Drammen: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Eau Claire. Darker towns draw more of Brunswick’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 Brunswick: questions
What is the median household income in Brunswick?
$92,426 (±$17,847) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brunswick?
3.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brunswick?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brunswick work?
1% work in town.
Is Brunswick walkable?
Brunswick is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brunswick without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brunswick, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brunswick
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.