Photo: Corey Coyle · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Dunn top those of 91% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 3.4%; Wisconsin has 10.6%. Jobs and income earn Dunn A+; getting around on foot earns it D. Only 2% stay in Dunn for work; outside it, Madison is the main destination (47%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Dunn, in brief
The better-paid jobs are outside Dunn
71% of Dunn residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Dunn pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Nearly half of Dunn works in Madison
1,208 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Madison, 9.8 miles away. That’s 24 times as many as work in Dunn itself. The commute map ↓
Dunn is a place people come home to
There are 514 jobs based in Dunn, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Dunn has about 2,600 people in it, 44% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
46% of the jobs in Dunn are in trade, transport and utilities, against 17% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Dunn pay little
27% of the jobs based in Dunn pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 36% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Dunn
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dunn is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #14 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment is its strongest input (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dunn could be anywhere from A to A+.
Dunn makes things: 30% of its jobs are in goods
514 jobs are based in Dunn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dunn, 2013 → 2023: 475 → 514. 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 Dunn’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Dunn goes to work
Where Dunn clocks in
47% of workers
5% 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.
Who works in Dunn, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,509 residents head out to work, 52 work right here, and 462 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Dunn on a workday afternoon, 44% fewer than live here.
0.20 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Dunn
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dunn workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,061 commuters (the 19% 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 Dunn
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.
Few in Dunn walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dunn is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns, #340 of 362 in Wisconsin. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 4.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,552 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). <1% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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 Dunn households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dunn’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,798 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300, Dunn comes 91st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| 90 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 91 | Dunn WI | 4,676 | $128K | 3.4% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 92 | St. Joseph WI | 4,408 | $113K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 5% | A+ |
| 93 | Hayfield VA | 4,392 | $192K | 1.8% | 3.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Dunn, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns next door employ 12% of Dunn
The biggest share goes to Fitchburg (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dunn workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunn | – | A+ | D | 22 min | $127,734 |
| McFarland | 4% | A | B | 19 min | $97,500 |
| Fitchburg | 5% | A− | A | 19 min | $86,516 |
| Stoughton | 3% | A− | A− | 22 min | $79,551 |
| Rutland | under 2% | A | D | 23 min | $105,000 |
| Pleasant Springs | under 2% | A+ | B | 23 min | $119,273 |
| Blooming Grove | under 2% | A− | A+ | 21 min | $90,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dunn’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 Dunn: questions
What is the median household income in Dunn?
$127,734 (±$16,479) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dunn?
3.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dunn?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dunn work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (47%, 10 mi), Fitchburg (5%, 6 mi), McFarland (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dunn walkable?
Dunn is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dunn 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 Dunn, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dunn
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.