Photo: Freekee · Public domainHouseholds in Fredonia have higher incomes than those in 76% of U.S. towns
Only 6% stay in Fredonia for work; outside it, Milwaukee is the main destination (14%, 28 miles). Poverty touches 9.7% of residents (Wisconsin 10.6%). Fredonia grades B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Fredonia, in brief
Fredonia makes and builds things
48% of the jobs based in Fredonia are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Fredonia residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 33%. The jobs ↓
Fredonia’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Fredonia is Milwaukee, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (162) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Fredonia’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fredonia is better than 73% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($99,013, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fredonia could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Goods, not services: 48% of the jobs in Fredonia
697 jobs are based in Fredonia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fredonia, 2013 → 2023: 609 → 697. 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 Fredonia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Fredonia’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Who works in Fredonia, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,082 residents head out to work, 65 work right here, and 632 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Fredonia on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
Where the trip to work from Fredonia ends
Where Fredonia clocks in
14% 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.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Fredonia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fredonia workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,399 commuters (the 8% 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.
In Fredonia, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fredonia is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Fredonia 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 1,524 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). 3.5% of Fredonia households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fredonia’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Fredonia ranks: 1,015th of 5,102 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 33 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,013 | Itasca TX | 1,970 | $77K | 6.8% | 1.1% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,014 | Splendora TX | 2,146 | $85K | 13.5% | 1.9% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,015 | Fredonia WI | 2,252 | $99K | 9.7% | 3.5% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,016 | Fobes Hill WA | 2,569 | $134K | 6.9% | 5.7% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,017 | Brookwood AL | 2,467 | $81K | 7.5% | 1.7% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Fredonia, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Fredonia and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Fredonia’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 Fredonia: questions
What is the median household income in Fredonia?
$99,013 (±$8,506) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fredonia?
9.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fredonia?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fredonia work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (14%, 28 mi), Port Washington (8%, 7 mi), Grafton (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fredonia walkable?
Fredonia is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fredonia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fredonia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fredonia
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.