Center has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
For jobs and income Center is better than 78% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (C−). Center has 121 jobs; 482 of its residents have a job. Household incomes here are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Center, in brief
Center and Janesville trade workers both ways
Janesville is the top workplace for Center residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Center come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Center is a place people come home to
There are 121 jobs based in Center, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Center has about 680 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Center workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 482 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Center
Household income holds Center’s grade up ($112,222, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (3.5%) is left out: Center’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, Center could be anywhere from B+ to A.
20% of working residents work in Janesville
Where Center clocks in
20% of workers
11% of workers
6% 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 Center
On a workday 473 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 112 people come in from elsewhere.
About 680 people are in Center on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 29 minutes each way for Center’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Center workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 546 commuters (the 7% 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.
56% of the jobs in Center make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Center, 2014 → 2024: 114 → 121. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Center
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Center start in a car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 3.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 590 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 under 0.1 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). 1.3% of Center households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Center’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Center is 297th among 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Kaukauna WI | 1,295 | $122K | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 295 | Walnut Creek OH | 1,053 | $81K | 1.3% | 32.5% | 3% | A− |
| 296 | Pemberville OH | 1,334 | $88K | 5.4% | 1.1% | 4% | A− |
| 297 | Center WI | 1,044 | $112K | 5.4% | 3.5% | 2% | A− |
| 298 | North Haven NY | 1,215 | $155K | 5.4% | 2.3% | 3% | A− |
| 299 | Bellevue Township MN | 1,181 | $114K | 3.6% | 3.2% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Center, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door to Center
The biggest share goes to Footville (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Center workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center | – | A− | C− | 29 min | $112,222 |
| Footville | 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Janesville | under 2% | A+ | C | 27 min | $102,660 |
| Plymouth | under 2% | B | D | 27 min | $85,598 |
| Magnolia | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Porter | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Footville, Magnolia and Porter: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Center’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 2024, 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 Center: questions
What is the median household income in Center?
$112,222 (±$12,599) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Center?
5.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Center?
29 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Center work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Janesville (20%, 9 mi), Madison (11%, 28 mi), Beloit (6%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Center walkable?
Center is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 3.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Center without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Center
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.