Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Franklin has higher household incomes than 82% of U.S. towns
Franklin grades A for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 6.7% of residents, against 10.6% across Wisconsin. Only 8% stay in Franklin for work; outside it, Milwaukee is the main destination (29%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Franklin
How Franklin earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Franklin is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #124 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Franklin could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Out of Franklin to work: where people go
Where Franklin clocks in
29% of workers
6% 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.
Who commutes out of Franklin, and who commutes in
On a workday 15,372 residents head out to work, 1,283 work right here, and 12,497 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 (0.83 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.
28% of the jobs in Franklin make or build things
13,780 jobs are based in Franklin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Franklin, 2013 → 2023: 12,253 → 13,780. 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 Franklin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way for Franklin’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Franklin workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,527 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.
The commute from Franklin, by distance
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 Franklin, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Franklin is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #196 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 17,284 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 13% 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% 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). 4.4% of Franklin households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Franklin’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Franklin is 250th of 1,162 U.S. towns of 26,000 to 50,000
| # | 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 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Brookfield WI | 41,448 | $130K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | New Berlin WI | 39,953 | $101K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Oak Creek WI | 38,296 | $97K | 4.9% | 1.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 248 | Saugus MA | 29,179 | $102K | 6.0% | 3.8% | 7% | A |
| 249 | Fate TX | 29,007 | $133K | 3.6% | 5.4% | 2% | A |
| 250 | Franklin WI | 36,687 | $107K | 6.7% | 3.4% | 8% | A |
| 251 | Commerce Township MI | 45,067 | $113K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 7% | A |
| 252 | Danville CA | 43,302 | $232K | 3.8% | 5.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,162 | 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 Franklin, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Franklin and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Oak Creek (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Franklin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | – | A | B− | 23 min | $106,894 |
| Greendale | under 3% | A | B | 23 min | $94,769 |
| Muskego | under 3% | A+ | B− | 23 min | $112,221 |
| Hales Corners | under 3% | A | A− | 23 min | $87,740 |
| Oak Creek | 5% | A+ | B | 23 min | $96,555 |
| Raymond | under 3% | A+ | C− | 27 min | $109,464 |
| Greenfield | 3% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $70,459 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Franklin’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 Franklin: questions
What is the median household income in Franklin?
$106,894 (±$10,031) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Franklin?
6.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Franklin?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Franklin work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (29%, 13 mi), Wauwatosa (6%, 12 mi), Oak Creek (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Franklin walkable?
Franklin is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Franklin 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 Franklin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Franklin
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.