Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Hurley’s household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Hurley is better than 5% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (A−). Below the poverty line: 14.6% of residents, next to 10.6% across Wisconsin. Home is the office for 3% of workers (Wisconsin 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Hurley in brief
Many Hurley workers cross into Michigan
43% of Hurley workers work outside Wisconsin, most of them in Michigan, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Hurley and Ironwood trade workers both ways
Ironwood is the top workplace for Hurley residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Hurley come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Hurley pay little
27% of the jobs based in Hurley pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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; with 723 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Hurley’s Jobs & income grade comes from
The poverty rate holds Hurley’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.0%) is left out: Hurley’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Hurley could be anywhere from D− to C−.
15% of working residents work in Ironwood
Where Hurley clocks in
15% 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.
Jobs in Hurley: what the 952 are
952 jobs are based in Hurley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hurley, 2013 → 2023: 922 → 952. 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 Hurley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Hurley, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 516 residents head out to work, 207 work right here, and 745 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Hurley on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 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 18 minutes in Hurley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hurley workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 601 commuters (the 3% 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 distance from Hurley to work
About 25% 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.
In Hurley, walking beats the bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 617 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). 10.2% of Hurley households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hurley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hurley and other U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,547 | Decatur TN | 1,637 | $43K | 34.3% | 23.1% | 18% | D |
| 5,548 | Mabton WA | 1,967 | $57K | 27.8% | 10.7% | 3% | D |
| 5,549 | Hurley WI | 1,617 | $47K | 14.6% | 3.0% | 29% | D |
| 5,550 | Wano Township KS | 1,737 | $54K | 16.5% | 2.4% | 46% | D |
| 5,551 | Wheeler NY | 1,150 | $60K | 35.0% | 3.0% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Hurley, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Hurley and its neighbors: 17% work next door
The biggest share goes to Ironwood (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hurley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurley | – | D | A− | 18 min | $47,083 |
| Kimball | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Carey | 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Montreal | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Oma | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kimball, Carey, Montreal and Oma: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hurley’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 Hurley: questions
What is the median household income in Hurley?
$47,083 (±$10,847) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hurley?
14.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hurley?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hurley work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ironwood (15%, 3 mi), Ashland (5%, 33 mi), Bessemer (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hurley walkable?
Hurley is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hurley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hurley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hurley
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.