Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Forest
Forest has 310 jobs, against 498 working residents. Only 2% work in Forest; the top destination outside it is Fond du Lac (23%, 12 miles). The average commute takes 23 minutes each way, next to 22 for Wisconsin and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Forest
Forest makes and builds things
82% of the jobs based in Forest are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Forest residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 41%. The jobs ↓
Forest and Fond du Lac trade workers both ways
Fond du Lac is the top workplace for Forest residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Forest come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Forest pay over $40,000 a year
75% of the jobs based in Forest 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 498 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Forest makes things: 82% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest, 2013 → 2023: 333 → 310. 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 Forest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Forest’s working residents head each day
Where Forest clocks in
23% of workers
7% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Forest
On a workday 488 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 300 people come in from elsewhere.
About 780 people are in Forest on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.62 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 23 minutes from Forest
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 428 commuters (the 18% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Forest
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
Work in the towns next to Forest
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forest workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | – | — | — | 23 min | $112,904 |
| Greenbush | under 3% | A− | D | 26 min | $87,031 |
| Empire | under 3% | A+ | D | 22 min | $125,185 |
| Osceola | under 3% | B+ | C− | 33 min | $102,500 |
| Marshfield | under 3% | B | B− | 29 min | $98,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Forest’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 Forest: questions
What is the median household income in Forest?
$112,904 (±$13,912) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest?
2.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fond du Lac (23%, 12 mi), Calumet (7%, 12 mi), Plymouth (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Forest 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 Forest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest
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.