Photo: Wwahammy · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer people are out of work in Kimberly (2.8%) than in 73% of U.S. towns
Only 5% work in Kimberly; the top destination outside it is Appleton (21%, 3 miles). Kimberly grades B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Commuters spend 17 minutes getting to work on average; Wisconsin averages 22, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Kimberly at work: what stands out
Kimberly trades workers with the towns around it
Kimberly has about as many jobs (3,547) as working residents (3,800), but they are mostly different people: 3,604 residents leave for work each day while 3,351 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Kimberly are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Kimberly and Appleton trade workers both ways
Appleton is the top workplace for Kimberly residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Kimberly come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Kimberly has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Kimberly went from 2,425 in 2013 to 3,547 in 2023, +46%. The jobs ↓
Most Kimberly residents work close to home
62% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Kimberly are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker. Time on the road ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Kimberly earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kimberly is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #235 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car holds Kimberly’s grade up (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($70,451, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kimberly could be anywhere from C+ to A.
A workday in Kimberly: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,604 residents head out to work, 196 work right here, and 3,351 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 (0.93 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.
The places Kimberly commutes to
Where Kimberly clocks in
21% of workers
8% 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.
The kinds of work in Kimberly
3,547 jobs are based in Kimberly.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kimberly, 2013 → 2023: 2,425 → 3,547. 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 Kimberly’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Kimberly
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 daily trip from Kimberly: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kimberly workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,931 commuters (the 14% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Kimberly
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kimberly is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #60 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.4% 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 3,394 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). 9.5% of Kimberly households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Kimberly’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kimberly next to U.S. towns of 5,300 to 10,200: 1,197th of 3,071 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,195 | De Soto KS | 7,083 | $104K | 6.1% | 8.6% | 15% | B+ |
| 1,196 | Grand Blanc MI | 7,880 | $68K | 9.0% | 2.5% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,197 | Kimberly WI | 7,556 | $70K | 9.9% | 2.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,198 | Fort Russell Township IL | 9,158 | $73K | 7.6% | 3.3% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,199 | Union Township IN | 6,258 | $72K | 9.2% | 1.7% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,071 | 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 Kimberly, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Kimberly and its neighbors: 29% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kimberly workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kimberly | – | B+ | A− | 17 min | $70,451 |
| Buchanan | 3% | B+ | B− | 21 min | $105,478 |
| Combined Locks | under 4% | A− | C+ | 18 min | $93,490 |
| Little Chute | 5% | A | B− | 19 min | $87,538 |
| Appleton | 21% | B+ | A− | 19 min | $80,483 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Appleton. Darker towns draw more of Kimberly’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 Kimberly: questions
What is the median household income in Kimberly?
$70,451 (±$13,561) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kimberly?
9.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kimberly?
17 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kimberly work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Appleton (21%, 3 mi), Grand Chute (8%, 6 mi), Fox Crossing (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kimberly walkable?
Kimberly is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kimberly 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 Kimberly, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kimberly
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.