Seth Peterson Cottage · Photo: Brendannee · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer people are out of work in Delton (1.1%) than in 94% of U.S. towns
The average commute, 22 minutes each way, matches the Wisconsin norm. Delton grades B+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Only 6% stay in Delton for work; outside it, Lake Delton is the main destination (13%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Delton at work: what stands out
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Delton
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Delton is better than 74% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Delton’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Delton could be anywhere from B to A.
67% of the jobs in Delton pay over $3,333 a month
1,601 jobs are based in Delton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Delton, 2013 → 2023: 3,340 → 1,601. 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 Delton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Delton
On a workday 1,137 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 1,534 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Delton on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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.
The towns that employ Delton’s residents
Where Delton clocks in
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.
About 22 minutes each way, about the WI average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Delton workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,207 commuters (the 11% 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.
Delton’s commute, mile by mile
About 21% 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.
For most of Delton, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Delton is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Delton near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,362 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). 2.9% of Delton households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Delton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Delton places 1,069th of 5,207 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Sun Prairie WI | 2,291 | $127K | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,067 | Springcreek Township OH | 2,235 | $69K | 3.8% | 5.8% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,068 | Grand Isle VT | 2,172 | $101K | 6.8% | 0.3% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,069 | Delton WI | 2,441 | $87K | 8.1% | 1.1% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,070 | Manasota Key FL | 1,711 | $142K | 2.4% | 3.9% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,071 | Somonauk IL | 1,770 | $85K | 3.9% | 5.2% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Delton, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
22% of Delton works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Delton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delton | – | B+ | C+ | 22 min | $87,299 |
| Lake Delton | 13% | C | B | 17 min | $51,964 |
| Wisconsin Dells | 9% | C− | A− | 22 min | $54,688 |
| Newport | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Fairfield | under 2% | C+ | B | 26 min | $84,828 |
| Baraboo | under 2% | B+ | B− | 18 min | $100,909 |
| Lyndon | under 2% | C− | C | 29 min | $62,188 |
| Dellona | under 2% | B | B− | 27 min | $103,043 |
| Excelsior | under 2% | B | D− | 21 min | $92,083 |
Same-state neighbors only. Newport: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lake Delton. Darker towns draw more of Delton’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 Delton: questions
What is the median household income in Delton?
$87,299 (±$11,253) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Delton?
8.1%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Delton?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Delton work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lake Delton (13%, 2 mi), Baraboo (13%, 7 mi), Madison (9%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Delton walkable?
Delton is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Delton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Delton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Delton
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.