With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Cooks Valley works elsewhere
Commuters spend 30 minutes getting to work on average, next to 22 for Wisconsin and 26 for the U.S. 112 jobs are based in Cooks Valley, against 360 working residents. Hardly any work in Cooks Valley itself; outside it, Eau Claire draws the most (21%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Cooks Valley
Each way, about 30 minutes from Cooks Valley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cooks Valley workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 416 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who leaves Cooks Valley for work, and who comes in
On a workday 360 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 112 people come in from elsewhere.
About 510 people are in Cooks Valley on a workday afternoon, 33% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Cooks Valley: the destinations
Where Cooks Valley clocks in
13% 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 Cooks Valley, 79% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cooks Valley, 2013 → 2023: 114 → 112. 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 Cooks Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Cooks Valley, by distance
About 16% 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.
Cooks Valley and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Woodmohr (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cooks Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooks Valley | – | — | — | 30 min | $99,375 |
| Woodmohr | 3% | B+ | D | 27 min | $87,428 |
| Howard | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Auburn | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Grant | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Howard, Auburn and Grant: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cooks Valley’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 Cooks Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Cooks Valley?
$99,375 (±$23,131) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cooks Valley?
3.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cooks Valley?
30 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cooks Valley work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eau Claire (21%, 18 mi), Bloomer (21%, 5 mi), Chippewa Falls (13%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Cooks Valley 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 Cooks Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cooks Valley
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.