Household incomes in Elm Grove are higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 27% of workers, next to 13% for Wisconsin as a whole. Below the poverty line: 4.4% of residents, next to 10.6% for Wisconsin as a whole. The two grades for Elm Grove are A+ for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Elm Grove apart
Elm Grove trades workers with the towns around it
Elm Grove has about as many jobs (3,238) as working residents (3,025), but they are mostly different people: 2,894 residents leave for work each day while 3,107 people come in. Only 4% of the jobs in Elm Grove are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Most Elm Grove residents work close to home
74% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Elm Grove and Milwaukee trade workers both ways
Milwaukee is the top workplace for Elm Grove residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Elm Grove come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Elm Grove
27% of Elm Grove workers work from home, against 13% across Wisconsin. Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
42% of the jobs in Elm Grove are in trade, transport and utilities, against 15% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
Inside Elm Grove’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elm Grove is among the top U.S. towns, #2 of 362 in Wisconsin. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Elm Grove’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elm Grove stays A+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Elm Grove
On a workday 2,894 residents head out to work, 131 work right here, and 3,107 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 (1.07 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Elm Grove
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.
25% of working residents work in Milwaukee
Where Elm Grove clocks in
25% of workers
14% of workers
11% 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 long Elm Grove spends getting to work: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elm Grove workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,243 commuters (the 27% 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.
Jobs in Elm Grove: what the 3,238 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elm Grove, 2013 → 2023: 3,333 → 3,238. 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 Elm Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Elm Grove, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elm Grove is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #126 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,073 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 70% 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 3.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 4.2% of Elm Grove households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Elm Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,396 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,600, Elm Grove comes 28th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | The Village of Indian Hill OH | 6,114 | $235K | 3.1% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 27 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| 28 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| 29 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| 30 | Hampton MD | 5,372 | $171K | 3.8% | 0.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Genesee WI | 7,235 | $119K | 3.3% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,396 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Elm Grove, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
11% of Elm Grove works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elm Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elm Grove | – | A+ | B | 19 min | $158,016 |
| Brookfield | 11% | A+ | B | 21 min | $129,548 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Brookfield. Darker towns draw more of Elm Grove’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 Elm Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Elm Grove?
$158,016 (±$21,964) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elm Grove?
4.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elm Grove?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elm Grove work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (25%, 6 mi), Wauwatosa (14%, 3 mi), Brookfield (11%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elm Grove walkable?
Elm Grove is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 11.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elm Grove without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elm Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elm Grove
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.