Hamilton has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hamilton has 207 jobs for 1,121 working residents. Jobs and income earn Hamilton A−; getting around on foot earns it C. Household incomes here are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Hamilton, in a few figures
Hamilton is a place people come home to
There are 207 jobs based in Hamilton, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Hamilton has about 1,400 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Hamilton and La Crosse trade workers both ways
La Crosse is the top workplace for Hamilton residents (37%) and also where the most people who work in Hamilton come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Hamilton’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hamilton is better than 83% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Hamilton’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hamilton could be anywhere from B to A.
Hamilton by day and by night
On a workday 1,113 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 199 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Hamilton on a workday afternoon, 40% 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.
37% of working residents work in La Crosse
Where Hamilton clocks in
37% of workers
8% 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.
67% of the jobs in Hamilton pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hamilton, 2013 → 2023: 284 → 207. 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 Hamilton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Hamilton takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hamilton workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,253 commuters (the 10% 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.
How many miles Hamilton commutes
About 18% 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 Hamilton walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hamilton is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Hamilton 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 1,397 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% 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). 1.1% of Hamilton households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hamilton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Hamilton ranks: 638th of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 35 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 636 | Chatham Township OH | 2,276 | $72K | 3.3% | 2.1% | 2% | A− |
| 637 | Plymouth WI | 3,038 | $76K | 3.7% | 1.1% | 3% | A− |
| 638 | Hamilton WI | 2,311 | $113K | 2.4% | 3.5% | 1% | A− |
| 639 | Henderson GA | 1,952 | $104K | 8.7% | 1.9% | 2% | A− |
| 640 | Estell Manor NJ | 1,696 | $97K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | 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 Hamilton, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Hamilton and its neighbors: 14% work next door
The biggest share goes to Onalaska (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hamilton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton | – | A− | C | 21 min | $112,500 |
| Farmington | under 2% | C+ | D | 31 min | $70,550 |
| Onalaska | 13% | B+ | B | 17 min | $85,867 |
| Onalaska | 1% | A | C− | 21 min | $106,700 |
| Barre | under 2% | A− | C | 20 min | $105,956 |
| Burns | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Medary | under 2% | A | C+ | 22 min | $105,114 |
| Bangor | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Burns: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Bangor: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hamilton’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 Hamilton: questions
What is the median household income in Hamilton?
$112,500 (±$7,479) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hamilton?
2.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hamilton?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hamilton work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Crosse (37%, 10 mi), Onalaska (13%, 6 mi), West Salem (8%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hamilton walkable?
Hamilton is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hamilton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hamilton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hamilton
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.