Photo: Downspec · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs, income and commuting in Fall River, WI
At home: 6% of workers have no commute at all (Wisconsin 13%). For jobs and income Fall River is better than 52% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (C−). About one in ten stay in Fall River for work; outside it, Madison is the main destination (20%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Fall River
Fall River makes and builds things
78% of the jobs based in Fall River are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Fall River residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 29%. The jobs ↓
Fall River’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Fall River is Madison, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 20% of working residents (186) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Fall River pay over $40,000 a year
75% of the jobs based in Fall River pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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; with 941 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Fall River gets the Jobs & income grade it does
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Fall River’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (4.0%) is left out: Fall River’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, Fall River could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Making and building: 78% of jobs based in Fall River
1,061 jobs are based in Fall River.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fall River, 2013 → 2023: 1,021 → 1,061. 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 Fall River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Fall River
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.
In and out of Fall River on a workday
On a workday 838 residents head out to work, 103 work right here, and 958 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 (1.13 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.
Where people from Fall River work
Where Fall River clocks in
20% of workers
10% 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.
Time on the road from Fall River: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fall River workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 797 commuters (the 6% 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.
Getting around Fall River: mostly by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 4.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 852 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). 2.6% of Fall River households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Fall River’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Fall River is 2,067th of 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 44 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,065 | Kealakekua HI | 1,919 | $103K | 7.2% | 1.0% | 17% | B− |
| 2,066 | Garden City MO | 1,617 | $65K | 5.0% | 3.8% | 3% | B− |
| 2,067 | Fall River WI | 1,853 | $72K | 9.5% | 4.0% | 11% | B− |
| 2,068 | Petersburgh NY | 1,369 | $78K | 5.0% | 3.6% | 11% | B− |
| 2,069 | Randolph NY | 2,405 | $77K | 9.1% | 2.8% | 19% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | 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 Fall River, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
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 Fall River: questions
What is the median household income in Fall River?
$72,167 (±$8,818) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fall River?
9.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fall River?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fall River work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (20%, 28 mi), Columbus (10%, 4 mi), Sun Prairie (4%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fall River walkable?
Fall River is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fall River without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fall River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fall River
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.