Photo: James Steakley · CC BY-SA 3.0Jefferson has lower unemployment (2.7%) than 75% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers (Wisconsin 13%). Jobs and income earn Jefferson B+; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in seven stay in Jefferson for work; outside it, Fort Atkinson is the main destination (11%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Jefferson
The figures behind Jefferson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jefferson is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #241 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Jefferson’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (11.2%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jefferson could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Who works in Jefferson, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 3,192 residents head out to work, 626 work right here, and 3,191 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 (1.00 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.
Commuting out of Jefferson: the destinations
Where Jefferson clocks in
11% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
In Jefferson, 30% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
3,817 jobs are based in Jefferson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jefferson, 2013 → 2023: 3,638 → 3,817. 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.
Commuting from Jefferson: about 25 minutes a trip
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 3,843 commuters (the 5% 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.
Jefferson’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Driving is how Jefferson gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jefferson is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #135 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Jefferson near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,039 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). 2.4% of Jefferson households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Jefferson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,500, Jefferson ranks 1,230th of 2,983 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,228 | Clarkston Heights-Vineland WA | 7,884 | $101K | 7.8% | 1.6% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,229 | Hubbard OH | 7,528 | $63K | 6.1% | 3.2% | 10% | B+ |
| 1,230 | Jefferson WI | 7,814 | $79K | 11.2% | 2.7% | 16% | B+ |
| 1,231 | Cooper Township MI | 10,446 | $83K | 2.7% | 6.2% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,232 | Mound MN | 9,064 | $87K | 8.8% | 5.2% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,983 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
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?
$79,006 (±$8,267) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jefferson?
11.2%, 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. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jefferson work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Atkinson (11%, 7 mi), Madison (5%, 32 mi), Johnson Creek (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jefferson walkable?
Jefferson is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jefferson without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% 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.