Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0Burlington has 1.5 jobs for every working resident: 6,832 people commute in to work
Jobs & income A−: better than 77% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #184 of 362 in Wisconsin.
Walkability B−: more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns · #183 of 362 in Wisconsin.
Household incomes here are higher than in 60% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 22 minutes each way (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). About one in four work in Burlington; the top destination outside it is Milwaukee (8%, 31 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Burlington, in brief
Burlington is where the jobs are
Burlington has 8,065 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The quickest commute around
Burlington’s 22-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 25 to 28 minutes. Next door ↓
Burlington’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Burlington is Milwaukee, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (417) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Burlington makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Burlington are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Burlington residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Burlington draws workers from far and wide
The 8,065 jobs in Burlington are filled from a wide area. Burlington’s own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 29%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
What’s behind Burlington’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Burlington is better than 77% of U.S. towns, #184 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($83,419, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Burlington could be anywhere from B to A.
Burlington fills up on a workday
On a workday 4,121 residents head out to work, 1,233 work right here, and 6,832 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Burlington on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.5 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.
Half of Burlington commutes less than 18 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Burlington makes things: 38% of its jobs are in goods
8,065 jobs are based in Burlington. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Burlington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Burlington, 2013 → 2023: 7,532 → 8,065. 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.
Where Burlington’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Burlington clocks in
8% of workers
5% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 22 minutes each way, about the WI average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Burlington workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,097 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Most trips from Burlington start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Burlington is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #183 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 5,532 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 0.0 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). 4.0% of Burlington households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Burlington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Burlington is 851st of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Burlington, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Greenville WI | 13,388 | $118K | 1.7% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Cottage Grove WI | 8,930 | $139K | 3.7% | 0.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 849 | West Long Branch NJ | 8,625 | $114K | 3.4% | 8.3% | 6% | A− |
| 850 | Willowick OH | 14,178 | $77K | 5.7% | 3.8% | 3% | A− |
| 851 | Burlington WI | 10,951 | $83K | 7.0% | 3.2% | 23% | A− |
| 852 | Chillicothe Township IL | 8,139 | $69K | 4.2% | 1.7% | 15% | A− |
| 853 | Gold Canyon AZ | 13,107 | $93K | 3.8% | 3.8% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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.
Burlington and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Burlington’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Burlington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | – | A− | B− | 22 min | $83,419 |
| Browns Lake | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Lyons | under 2% | B− | C− | 25 min | $83,919 |
| Spring Prairie | under 2% | A | D− | 28 min | $107,955 |
Same-state neighbors only. Browns Lake: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Burlington: questions
What is the median household income in Burlington?
$83,419 (±$5,614) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Burlington?
7.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Burlington?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Burlington work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (8%, 31 mi), Kenosha (5%, 21 mi), Burlington (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Burlington walkable?
Burlington is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Burlington without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Burlington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Burlington
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.