Photo: James Steakley · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Jefferson works elsewhere
For jobs and income Jefferson is better than 88% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (B−). There are 457 jobs in Jefferson, against 1,018 working residents. Measured by household income, Jefferson is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Jefferson’s Jobs & income grade comes from
The poverty rate is its strongest input (2.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 60% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.6%) is left out: Jefferson’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, Jefferson could be anywhere from B to A+.
Jefferson by day and by night
On a workday 998 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 437 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Jefferson on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
12% of working residents work in Fort Atkinson
Where Jefferson clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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 Jefferson: what the 457 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jefferson, 2013 → 2023: 207 → 457. 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 Jefferson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 25 minutes in Jefferson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jefferson workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 813 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Jefferson
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 Jefferson walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 4.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 951 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). 0.6% of Jefferson households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Jefferson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Jefferson next to U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,800: 428th of 5,793 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 41 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 426 | Silver Summit UT | 1,476 | $242K | 6.8% | 6.4% | 3% | A |
| 427 | Sugar Creek Township IN | 2,168 | $91K | 5.3% | 1.0% | 3% | A |
| 428 | Jefferson WI | 2,060 | $100K | 2.7% | 0.6% | 2% | A |
| 429 | Channel Islands Beach CA | 2,726 | $107K | 4.8% | 2.7% | 3% | A |
| 430 | Marine Township IL | 2,282 | $98K | 2.9% | 3.2% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,793 | 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 Jefferson, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Jefferson and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jefferson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson | – | A | B− | 25 min | $99,667 |
| Sullivan | under 2% | B | D | 36 min | $85,833 |
| Hebron | under 2% | B+ | D | 27 min | $94,438 |
| Koshkonong | under 2% | A | C− | 19 min | $102,831 |
| Farmington | under 2% | B+ | C− | 34 min | $88,021 |
| Aztalan | under 2% | A | C− | 24 min | $105,000 |
| Rome | under 2% | — | — | 45 min | — |
| Oakland | under 2% | B− | C | 26 min | $94,603 |
Same-state neighbors only. Rome: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jefferson’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 Jefferson: questions
What is the median household income in Jefferson?
$99,667 (±$35,158) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jefferson?
2.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jefferson?
25 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jefferson work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Atkinson (12%, 5 mi), Jefferson (7%, 2 mi), Madison (6%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jefferson walkable?
Jefferson is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jefferson without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jefferson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jefferson
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.