Making a living in Dresser
A typical one-way commute lasts 30 minutes (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). Only 4% stay in Dresser for work; outside it, Osceola is the main destination (11%, 4 miles). 583 jobs are based in Dresser for 534 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Dresser, in a few figures
Dresser makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Dresser are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Dresser residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 30%. The jobs ↓
Dresser workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 61 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 534 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Goods jobs make up 49% of work in Dresser
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dresser, 2014 → 2024: 623 → 583. 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 Dresser’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Dresser takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dresser workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 436 commuters (the 10% 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 a workday changes Dresser
On a workday 513 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 562 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 (1.09 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Dresser’s working residents head each day
Where Dresser clocks in
11% of workers
3% 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.
How far it is to work from Dresser
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.
Around Dresser: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Osceola (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dresser workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dresser | – | — | — | 30 min | $80,114 |
| Osceola | 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Osceola: 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 Dresser’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 Dresser: questions
What is the median household income in Dresser?
$80,114 (±$12,580) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dresser?
8.1%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dresser?
30 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dresser work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Osceola (11%, 4 mi), St. Croix Falls (9%, 3 mi), Minneapolis (3%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Dresser without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dresser, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dresser
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.