Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0Hartford has lower unemployment (2.8%) than 73% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 26 minutes; Wisconsin averages 22, the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Hartford B+; getting around on foot earns it C. About one in five stay in Hartford for work; outside it, Milwaukee is the main destination (10%, 27 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Hartford apart
Hartford trades workers with the towns around it
Hartford has about as many jobs (7,719) as working residents (8,057), but they are mostly different people: 6,517 residents leave for work each day while 6,179 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Hartford are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Hartford makes and builds things
47% of the jobs based in Hartford are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Hartford residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 31%. The jobs ↓
Hartford’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Hartford is Milwaukee, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (766) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Hartford draws workers from far and wide
The 7,719 jobs in Hartford are filled from a wide area. Hartford’s own residents hold 20% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The four measures behind Hartford’s grade
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (9.0%, 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, Hartford could be anywhere from B− to A.
A workday in Hartford: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 6,517 residents head out to work, 1,540 work right here, and 6,179 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.96 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Goods, not services: 47% of the jobs in Hartford
7,719 jobs are based in Hartford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hartford, 2014 → 2024: 7,927 → 7,719. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hartford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Hartford goes to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Commuting out of Hartford: the destinations
Where Hartford clocks in
10% of workers
5% 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.
How long Hartford spends getting to work: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hartford workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,257 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.
In Hartford, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hartford is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns, #255 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% 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 8,568 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). 5.2% of Hartford households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hartford’s commuters take a bus or train.
926th of 2,220: where Hartford ranks among U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Greenville WI | 13,388 | $118K | 1.7% | 0.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Whitefish Bay WI | 14,489 | $157K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Verona WI | 16,821 | $120K | 1.4% | 1.6% | 22% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 924 | LaGrange NY | 16,689 | $122K | 6.8% | 4.8% | 9% | B+ |
| 925 | Lower Burrell PA | 11,470 | $85K | 7.8% | 3.3% | 8% | B+ |
| 926 | Hartford WI | 16,005 | $82K | 9.0% | 2.8% | 19% | B+ |
| 927 | Grantsville UT | 16,472 | $101K | 5.9% | 2.9% | 8% | B+ |
| 928 | River Falls WI | 17,916 | $84K | 15.1% | 3.3% | 24% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Hartford, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Hartford and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Slinger (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Hartford’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 2024, 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 Hartford: questions
What is the median household income in Hartford?
$82,014 (±$12,894) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hartford?
9.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hartford?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hartford work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (10%, 27 mi), Menomonee Falls (5%, 17 mi), West Bend (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Hartford walkable?
Hartford is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hartford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hartford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hartford
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.