Greendale Historic District · Photo: Freekee · CC0Most of Greendale commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Greendale report 3,738 jobs; 6,848 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Greendale are A for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 6% stay in Greendale for work; outside it, Milwaukee is the main destination (28%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Greendale, in a few figures
Greendale and Milwaukee trade workers both ways
Milwaukee is the top workplace for Greendale residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Greendale come from (24% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Greendale
65% of Greendale residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Greendale pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Greendale pay little
29% of the jobs based in Greendale pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 37% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Most Greendale residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Greendale
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Greendale is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #116 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.4%, U.S. 12.5%). 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, Greendale could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The towns that employ Greendale’s residents
Where Greendale clocks in
28% of workers
6% 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 kinds of work in Greendale
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Greendale, 2013 → 2023: 3,846 → 3,738. 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 Greendale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Greendale works
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.
How many people are in Greendale by day
On a workday 6,439 residents head out to work, 409 work right here, and 3,329 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Greendale on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Greendale
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Greendale workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,873 commuters (the 15% 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.
Driving is how Greendale gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Greendale is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #152 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% 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 6,880 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 54% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 15% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 5.5% of Greendale households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Greendale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000, Greendale ranks 437th of 2,227 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Greenville WI | 13,388 | $118K | 1.7% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Whitefish Bay WI | 14,489 | $157K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Verona WI | 16,821 | $120K | 1.4% | 1.6% | 21% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 435 | Celebration FL | 13,667 | $96K | 3.8% | 3.3% | 10% | A |
| 436 | Tenafly NJ | 15,237 | $208K | 3.5% | 6.8% | 5% | A |
| 437 | Greendale WI | 14,426 | $95K | 8.4% | 2.1% | 6% | A |
| 438 | Palmer Ranch FL | 16,867 | $103K | 6.9% | 1.5% | 3% | A |
| 439 | Waterloo IL | 11,132 | $99K | 5.9% | 2.3% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | 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 Greendale, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Around Greendale: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Greenfield (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Greendale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greendale | – | A | B | 23 min | $94,769 |
| Greenfield | 4% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $70,459 |
| Franklin | 4% | A | B− | 23 min | $106,894 |
| Hales Corners | under 3% | A | A− | 23 min | $87,740 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Greendale’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 Greendale: questions
What is the median household income in Greendale?
$94,769 (±$11,122) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Greendale?
8.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Greendale?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Greendale work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (28%, 9 mi), Wauwatosa (6%, 9 mi), West Allis (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Greendale walkable?
Greendale is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Greendale without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 15% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Greendale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Greendale
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.