Photo: Shawn Conrad · CC BY-SA 3.0Germantown has lower unemployment (2.1%) than 83% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Germantown is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Germantown A; getting around on foot earns it C+. About one in ten stay in Germantown for work; outside it, Milwaukee is the main destination (20%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Germantown, in a few figures
Germantown and Milwaukee trade workers both ways
Milwaukee is the top workplace for Germantown residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Germantown come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Germantown makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Germantown are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Germantown residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. The jobs ↓
Germantown gains people on a workday
About 25,000 people are in Germantown on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 21,000 who live here: 13,000 come in to work and 8,300 head out. Day and night ↓
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.
Why Germantown gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Germantown is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #66 of 362 in Wisconsin. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Germantown’s grade. 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, Germantown could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Where Germantown goes to work
Where Germantown clocks in
20% of workers
10% 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.
39% of the jobs in Germantown make or build things
13,857 jobs are based in Germantown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Germantown, 2013 → 2023: 10,974 → 13,857. 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 Germantown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Germantown
On a workday 8,340 residents head out to work, 1,127 work right here, and 12,730 people come in from elsewhere.
About 25,000 people are in Germantown on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 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.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Germantown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Germantown workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,001 commuters (the 19% 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.
Miles to work from Germantown
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 Germantown walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Germantown is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns, #224 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 11,114 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). 3.7% of Germantown households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Germantown’s commuters take a bus or train.
170th of 1,705: where Germantown ranks among U.S. towns of 15,000 to 28,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Verona WI | 16,821 | $120K | 1.4% | 1.6% | 21% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Muskego WI | 25,602 | $112K | 3.0% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Waunakee WI | 16,411 | $125K | 2.8% | 1.4% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 168 | Keystone FL | 25,858 | $161K | 3.9% | 3.2% | 4% | A |
| 169 | Lone Tree CO | 15,278 | $124K | 4.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A |
| 170 | Germantown WI | 21,050 | $100K | 4.9% | 2.1% | 12% | A |
| 171 | Scarborough ME | 24,547 | $134K | 4.4% | 2.2% | 19% | A |
| 172 | Copley Township OH | 18,482 | $115K | 4.8% | 2.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,705 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Germantown, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Bordering towns draw 30% of Germantown’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Germantown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germantown | – | A | C+ | 23 min | $100,231 |
| Menomonee Falls | 10% | A | B− | 21 min | $100,238 |
| Richfield | under 2% | A+ | C | 28 min | $143,963 |
| Milwaukee | 20% | C | A+ | 22 min | $54,234 |
| Jackson | under 2% | A+ | C− | 24 min | $116,838 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Milwaukee. Darker towns draw more of Germantown’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 Germantown: questions
What is the median household income in Germantown?
$100,231 (±$4,962) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Germantown?
4.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Germantown?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Germantown work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (20%, 14 mi), Menomonee Falls (10%, 5 mi), Wauwatosa (6%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Germantown walkable?
Germantown is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Germantown without a car?
<1% 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 Germantown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Germantown
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.