Photo: Corey Coyle · CC BY 3.0Jamestown has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jamestown has 491 jobs, and 1,064 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Jamestown is better than 82% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (B−). Only 5% work in Jamestown; the top destination outside it is Dubuque (29%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jamestown at work: what stands out
Many Jamestown workers cross into Iowa
43% of Jamestown workers work outside Wisconsin, most of them in Iowa, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
A lot of Jamestown works one town over
32% of working residents work in a town that borders Jamestown: Dubuque (29%) and Hazel Green (3%). Next door ↓
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.
How Jamestown earns its Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Jamestown’s grade up (3.1%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% 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, Jamestown could be anywhere from B to A.
Where the trip to work from Jamestown ends
Where Jamestown clocks in
29% 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.
Jamestown quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,011 residents head out to work, 53 work right here, and 438 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Jamestown on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
The kinds of work in Jamestown
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jamestown, 2013 → 2023: 284 → 491. 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 Jamestown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 18 minutes to work from Jamestown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jamestown workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 904 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.
How many miles Jamestown commutes
About 24% 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.
The commute in Jamestown is mostly behind the wheel
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 6.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,061 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). 3.1% of Jamestown households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Jamestown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100, Jamestown comes 645th on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 643 | Roberts WI | 2,493 | $93K | 10.5% | 0.4% | 5% | A− |
| 644 | Hamilton Township PA | 2,778 | $107K | 6.2% | 2.9% | 4% | A− |
| 645 | Jamestown WI | 2,305 | $93K | 3.1% | 1.9% | 5% | A− |
| 646 | El Jebel CO | 2,941 | $103K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 4% | A− |
| 647 | Manhattan MT | 2,073 | $88K | 2.9% | 0.0% | 9% | 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 Jamestown, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Work next door: 32% of Jamestown’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jamestown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamestown | – | A− | B− | 18 min | $92,875 |
| Hazel Green | 3% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Potosi | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Paris | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Hazel Green and Paris: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Potosi: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Dubuque. Darker towns draw more of Jamestown’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 Jamestown: questions
What is the median household income in Jamestown?
$92,875 (±$29,629) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jamestown?
3.1%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jamestown?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jamestown work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dubuque (29%, 7 mi), Platteville (6%, 14 mi), Hazel Green (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jamestown walkable?
Jamestown is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jamestown without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jamestown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jamestown
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.