Photo: Corey Coyle · CC BY 3.0Madison draws more than half of Fitchburg’s working residents
A typical one-way commute lasts 19 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. The two grades for Fitchburg are A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Measured by household income, Fitchburg is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Fitchburg: the gist
Fitchburg trades workers with the towns around it
Fitchburg has about as many jobs (14,992) as working residents (15,420), but they are mostly different people: 14,187 residents leave for work each day while 13,759 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in Fitchburg are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
More than half of Fitchburg works in Madison
7,985 working residents, 52%, have their main job in Madison, 7.1 miles away across the town line. That’s 7 times as many as work in Fitchburg itself. The commute map ↓
Most Fitchburg residents work close to home
75% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Fitchburg has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Fitchburg went from 10,489 in 2013 to 14,992 in 2023, +43%. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Fitchburg pay over $40,000 a year
73% of the jobs based in Fitchburg 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Fitchburg’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fitchburg is better than 81% of U.S. towns, #163 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment is its strongest input (1.9%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (9.3%, U.S. 12.5%). 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, Fitchburg could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Fitchburg on a workday afternoon
On a workday 14,187 residents head out to work, 1,233 work right here, and 13,759 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 (0.97 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 Fitchburg goes to work
Where Fitchburg clocks in
52% of workers
5% 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.
Where in the region Fitchburg works
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.
Factories, building and farms: 28% of the jobs in Fitchburg
14,992 jobs are based in Fitchburg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fitchburg, 2013 → 2023: 10,489 → 14,992. 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 Fitchburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Fitchburg: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fitchburg workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,347 commuters (the 16% 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.
Fitchburg is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 19,495 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 60% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 31% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 13.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 5.0% of Fitchburg households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Fitchburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fitchburg next to U.S. towns of 24,000 to 47,000: 447th of 1,287 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Brookfield WI | 41,448 | $130K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Muskego WI | 25,602 | $112K | 3.0% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Mequon WI | 25,120 | $144K | 4.2% | 2.6% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 445 | Cave Spring VA | 25,742 | $88K | 5.9% | 2.9% | 10% | A− |
| 446 | Washington UT | 37,107 | $92K | 5.5% | 2.2% | 14% | A− |
| 447 | Fitchburg WI | 34,615 | $87K | 9.3% | 1.9% | 8% | A− |
| 448 | Norwood Park Township IL | 26,584 | $90K | 4.8% | 5.4% | 7% | A− |
| 449 | Owings Mills MD | 37,245 | $96K | 5.6% | 4.7% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,287 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Fitchburg, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door is work for 52% of Fitchburg
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fitchburg workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fitchburg | – | A− | A | 19 min | $86,516 |
| Madison | 52% | A− | A+ | 19 min | $78,050 |
| Dunn | under 1% | A+ | D | 22 min | $127,734 |
| Verona | under 1% | A+ | B | 18 min | $150,000 |
| Blooming Grove | under 1% | A− | A+ | 21 min | $90,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Madison. Darker towns draw more of Fitchburg’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 Fitchburg: questions
What is the median household income in Fitchburg?
$86,516 (±$8,914) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fitchburg?
9.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fitchburg?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fitchburg work?
8% work in town.
Is Fitchburg walkable?
Fitchburg is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fitchburg without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 31% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fitchburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fitchburg
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.