How Byron works: jobs, income and commuting
Only 4% work in Byron itself; outside it, Tomah draws the most (26%, 7 miles). Jobs and income earn Byron C−; getting around on foot earns it C−. The trip to work takes 22 minutes on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Byron
Byron makes and builds things
82% of the jobs based in Byron are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Byron residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
Byron and Tomah trade workers both ways
Tomah is the top workplace for Byron residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Byron come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Byron pay over $40,000 a year
77% of the jobs based in Byron pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
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 466 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Byron’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Byron is better than 22% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Byron’s grade up ($77,083, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (10.7%) is left out: Byron’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Byron could be anywhere from D to C+.
Factories, building and farms: 82% of the jobs in Byron
384 jobs are based in Byron.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Byron, 2013 → 2023: 370 → 384. 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 Byron’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Byron to work: where people go
Where Byron clocks in
26% of workers
3% 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.
In and out of Byron on a workday
On a workday 449 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 367 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 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.
From Byron, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Byron workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 481 commuters (the 9% 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 far Byron’s workers travel
About 32% 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.
Few in Byron walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Byron is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 4.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 527 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). 1.4% of Byron households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Byron’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, Byron comes 3,231st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,229 | Winter WI | 1,053 | $72K | 10.8% | 4.5% | 7% | C− |
| 3,230 | Lenroot WI | 1,395 | $64K | 9.5% | 4.8% | 4% | C− |
| 3,231 | Byron WI | 1,245 | $77K | 16.5% | 10.7% | 4% | C− |
| 3,232 | Lone Oak TN | 1,422 | $41K | 14.8% | 0.0% | <1% | C− |
| 3,233 | Osgood IN | 1,602 | $53K | 9.7% | 5.1% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Byron, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Byron and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Oakdale (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Byron workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Byron | – | C− | C− | 22 min | $77,083 |
| Cutler | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| La Grange | under 2% | B | C− | 16 min | $98,958 |
| Scott | under 2% | — | — | 38 min | — |
| Oakdale | 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Cutler and Oakdale: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Scott: 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 Byron’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 Byron: questions
What is the median household income in Byron?
$77,083 (±$18,826) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Byron?
16.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Byron?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Byron work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tomah (26%, 7 mi), Sparta (3%, 23 mi), Mauston (2%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Byron walkable?
Byron is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Byron without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Byron, from the people who make the trip.
More of Byron
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.