With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Gale works elsewhere
Household incomes here are higher than in 81% of U.S. towns. Employers in Gale report 140 jobs for 934 working residents. For jobs and income Gale is better than 80% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Gale in brief
Inside Gale’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Gale’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gale could be anywhere from B to A.
The daily flow of workers through Gale
On a workday 926 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 132 people come in from elsewhere.
About 950 people are in Gale on a workday afternoon, 46% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
18% of working residents work in La Crosse
Where Gale clocks in
18% of workers
9% 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.
In Gale, 39% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gale, 2013 → 2023: 77 → 140. 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 Gale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gale workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 821 commuters (the 20% 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.
Gale’s commute, mile by mile
About 22% 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.
Few in Gale walk, bike or ride to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,027 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). 0.5% of Gale households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 6,085 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400, Gale comes 719th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 717 | Salem Township OH | 2,112 | $88K | 4.7% | 1.5% | <1% | A− |
| 718 | South Hero VT | 1,726 | $127K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 7% | A− |
| 719 | Gale WI | 1,743 | $105K | 4.6% | 2.1% | 1% | A− |
| 720 | Mitchell WI | 1,293 | $97K | 2.7% | 7.2% | 4% | A− |
| 721 | Fisher IL | 2,087 | $98K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | 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 Gale, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Around Gale: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Trempealeau (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gale | – | A− | C | 25 min | $105,313 |
| Holland | under 2% | A | C | 24 min | $119,609 |
| Farmington | under 2% | C+ | D | 31 min | $70,550 |
| Ettrick | under 2% | B | C− | 31 min | $85,714 |
| Trempealeau | 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Caledonia | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Arcadia | under 2% | B | B− | 18 min | $79,762 |
Same-state neighbors only. Trempealeau and Caledonia: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gale’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 Gale: questions
What is the median household income in Gale?
$105,313 (±$5,348) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gale?
4.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gale?
25 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gale work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Crosse (18%, 20 mi), Winona (9%, 19 mi), Whitehall (7%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gale walkable?
Gale is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gale
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.