Ingebretson, Gaute, Loft House · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0Dunkirk has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
140 jobs are based in Dunkirk, and 925 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Dunkirk A−; getting around on foot earns it C+. Measured by household income, Dunkirk is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Dunkirk stands out on work
Dunkirk is a place people come home to
There are 140 jobs based in Dunkirk, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Dunkirk has about 1,000 people in it, 44% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
37% of Dunkirk works in Madison
343 working residents, 37%, have their main job in Madison, 18 miles away. That’s far more as work in Dunkirk itself. The commute map ↓
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 925 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Dunkirk gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Household income is its strongest input ($102,604, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.3%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (1.0%) is left out: Dunkirk’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, Dunkirk could be anywhere from B to A.
Who leaves Dunkirk for work, and who comes in
On a workday 921 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 136 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Dunkirk on a workday afternoon, 44% 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.
37% of working residents work in Madison
Where Dunkirk clocks in
37% of workers
13% of workers
4% 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 Dunkirk, 40% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dunkirk, 2013 → 2023: 101 → 140. 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 Dunkirk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dunkirk workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 681 commuters (the 15% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Dunkirk
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.
Most of Dunkirk commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dunkirk is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns. 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 5.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 800 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). 5.2% of Dunkirk households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dunkirk’s commuters take a bus or train.
714th of 5,343: where Dunkirk ranks among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 41 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 712 | Pickaway Township OH | 2,136 | $99K | 3.2% | 3.6% | 5% | A− |
| 713 | Denver IA | 1,954 | $92K | 6.7% | 2.0% | 8% | A− |
| 714 | Dunkirk WI | 1,798 | $103K | 8.3% | 1.0% | <1% | A− |
| 715 | Orion IL | 1,708 | $94K | 5.2% | 3.4% | 13% | A− |
| 716 | Milford NE | 2,286 | $83K | 7.2% | 0.3% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Dunkirk, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Work next door: 13% of Dunkirk’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dunkirk workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunkirk | – | A− | C+ | 26 min | $102,604 |
| Stoughton | 13% | A− | A− | 22 min | $79,551 |
| Porter | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Pleasant Springs | under 2% | A+ | B | 23 min | $119,273 |
| Albion | under 2% | A | C+ | 25 min | $107,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Porter: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Stoughton. Darker towns draw more of Dunkirk’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 Dunkirk: questions
What is the median household income in Dunkirk?
$102,604 (±$14,828) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dunkirk?
8.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dunkirk?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dunkirk work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (37%, 18 mi), Stoughton (13%, 2 mi), Fitchburg (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dunkirk walkable?
Dunkirk is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dunkirk without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dunkirk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dunkirk
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.