Hayward draws about two in five of Chief Lake’s working residents
Chief Lake has 321 jobs; 224 of its residents have a job. About one in seven work in Chief Lake itself; outside it, Hayward draws the most (41%, 5 miles). The trip to work takes 19 minutes on average; Wisconsin averages 22, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Chief Lake, in brief
Chief Lake and Bass Lake trade workers both ways
Bass Lake is the top workplace for Chief Lake residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Chief Lake come from (26% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Chief Lake than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Chief Lake fell from 757 in 2013 to 321 in 2023, −58%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Most Chief Lake residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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 224 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where people from Chief Lake work
Where Chief Lake clocks in
41% of workers
9% 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 Chief Lake, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chief Lake, 2013 → 2023: 757 → 321. 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 Chief Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Chief Lake
About 25% 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.
Who leaves Chief Lake for work, and who comes in
On a workday 190 residents head out to work, 34 work right here, and 287 people come in from elsewhere.
About 760 people are in Chief Lake on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
Commuting from Chief Lake: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chief Lake workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 206 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.
Work next door: 20% of Chief Lake’s workers
The biggest share goes to Bass Lake (18%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chief Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Lake | – | — | — | 19 min | $70,833 |
| Little Round Lake | under 1% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Reserve | under 1% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Couderay | under 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| New Post | under 1% | — | — | 52 min | — |
| Bass Lake | 18% | D− | C+ | 18 min | $56,071 |
| Hunter | 2% | — | — | 38 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Little Round Lake, Reserve and New Post: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Couderay and Hunter: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Chief Lake’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 Chief Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Chief Lake?
$70,833 (±$5,153) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chief Lake?
23.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chief Lake?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chief Lake work?
15% work in town.
Can you get around Chief Lake without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chief Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chief Lake
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.