Photo: 123dieinafire · CC BY 3.0Hudson has higher household incomes than 72% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 6.2% of residents; Wisconsin has 10.6%. The two grades for Hudson are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in five work in Hudson; the top destination outside it is St. Paul (8%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Hudson in brief
A lot of Hudson workers cross into Minnesota
31% of Hudson workers work outside Wisconsin, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, St. Paul (8%), Minneapolis (5%) and Woodbury (3%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Hudson is the work center of its corner
Every town that borders Hudson (North Hudson, Troy, Lakeland, Lakeland Shores and West Lakeland Township) has fewer jobs than working residents, while Hudson has 1.6 per resident. Next door ↓
Hudson draws workers from far and wide
The 11,286 jobs in Hudson are filled from a wide area. Hudson’s own residents hold 14% and the ten next-biggest home towns 31%; the other 55% 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Hudson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hudson is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #148 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Hudson could be anywhere from B to A+.
Where Hudson’s workforce comes from
Where Hudson clocks in
8% 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 many people are in Hudson by day
On a workday 5,460 residents head out to work, 1,534 work right here, and 9,752 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Hudson on a workday afternoon, 29% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The 11,286 jobs based in Hudson
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hudson, 2013 → 2023: 9,285 → 11,286. 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 Hudson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes to work from Hudson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hudson workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,610 commuters (the 18% 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.
The commute from Hudson, by distance
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Hudson
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hudson is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #34 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% 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 8,050 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). 4.6% of Hudson households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hudson’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Hudson ranks: 536th of 1,969 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Greenville WI | 13,388 | $118K | 1.7% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Whitefish Bay WI | 14,489 | $157K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Verona WI | 16,821 | $120K | 1.4% | 1.6% | 21% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 534 | Plainville CT | 17,746 | $84K | 6.5% | 2.9% | 10% | A− |
| 535 | Newcastle WA | 13,128 | $160K | 5.9% | 5.6% | 1% | A− |
| 536 | Hudson WI | 15,019 | $94K | 6.2% | 3.5% | 22% | A− |
| 537 | Agoura Hills CA | 19,243 | $171K | 6.5% | 5.2% | 6% | A− |
| 538 | Chatham IL | 14,579 | $107K | 3.3% | 3.6% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,969 | 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 Hudson, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns around Hudson
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hudson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson | – | A− | A− | 23 min | $93,937 |
| North Hudson | under 2% | A | D | 31 min | $122,647 |
| Troy | under 2% | A | D | 28 min | $161,161 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hudson’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 Hudson: questions
What is the median household income in Hudson?
$93,937 (±$9,468) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hudson?
6.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hudson?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hudson work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Paul (8%, 18 mi), Minneapolis (5%, 26 mi), Hudson (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hudson walkable?
Hudson is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hudson 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 Hudson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hudson
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.