Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Emmet has higher household incomes than 74% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 34 minutes getting to work on average, where Wisconsin has 22 and the U.S. 26. 5.3% of residents are in poverty, against 10.6% across Wisconsin. Jobs and income earn Emmet A−; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Emmet: the figures worth knowing
Emmet makes and builds things
79% of the jobs based in Emmet are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Emmet residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 34%. The jobs ↓
Emmet and Watertown trade workers both ways
Watertown is the top workplace for Emmet residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Emmet come from (24% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Emmet workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 92 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 570 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Emmet’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Emmet is better than 79% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (5.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (7.3%) is left out: Emmet’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, Emmet could be anywhere from B to A.
Making and building: 79% of jobs based in Emmet
407 jobs are based in Emmet.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Emmet, 2013 → 2023: 569 → 407. 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 Emmet’s own residents hold wherever they work.
17% of working residents work in Watertown
Where Emmet clocks in
17% of workers
8% of workers
6% 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.
From Emmet, about 34 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Emmet workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 629 commuters (the 13% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Emmet
On a workday 552 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 389 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Emmet on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
How far Emmet goes to work
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.
Getting around Emmet: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Emmet is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Emmet 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 722 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). 2.4% of Emmet households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Emmet’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Emmet is 491st among 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 489 | Union Grove Township IL | 1,165 | $106K | 0.6% | 5.8% | <1% | A− |
| 490 | Glenburn Township PA | 1,436 | $88K | 4.1% | 9.3% | 1% | A− |
| 491 | Emmet WI | 1,274 | $96K | 5.3% | 7.3% | 3% | A− |
| 492 | Hasley Canyon CA | 1,216 | $145K | 10.8% | 23.4% | <1% | A− |
| 493 | Lake Marcel-Stillwater WA | 1,549 | $202K | 5.3% | 0.0% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Emmet, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Bordering towns draw 17% of Emmet’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Emmet workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emmet | – | A− | D | 34 min | $95,938 |
| Watertown | 17% | B− | A− | 25 min | $70,107 |
| Lebanon | under 2% | A− | D | 28 min | $87,750 |
| Shields | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Clyman | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Watertown | under 2% | A− | C | 25 min | $99,886 |
| Hustisford | under 2% | B+ | C− | 35 min | $94,479 |
| Lowell | under 2% | B+ | C | 30 min | $95,592 |
Same-state neighbors only. Shields and Clyman: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Watertown. Darker towns draw more of Emmet’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 Emmet: questions
What is the median household income in Emmet?
$95,938 (±$23,281) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Emmet?
5.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Emmet?
34 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Emmet work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watertown (17%, 4 mi), Madison (8%, 38 mi), Oconomowoc (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Emmet walkable?
Emmet is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Emmet without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Emmet, from the people who make the trip.
More of Emmet
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.