Lake has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 84 jobs in Lake for 563 working residents. The two grades for Lake are C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Only 1% work in Lake itself; outside it, Marinette draws the most (14%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lake and work: the main findings
Lake is a place people come home to
There are 84 jobs based in Lake, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lake has about 760 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Lake workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical 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; with 563 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Lake’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Lake is better than 32% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Lake’s grade up ($77,857, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.2%) is left out: Lake’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lake could be anywhere from D to B−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Lake
On a workday 555 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 76 people come in from elsewhere.
About 760 people are in Lake on a workday afternoon, 39% 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.
Half of Lake commutes less than 17 miles
About 34% 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.
Time on the road from Lake: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 489 commuters (the 7% 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.
Out of Lake to work: where people go
Where Lake clocks in
14% 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.
40% of the jobs in Lake make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake, 2013 → 2023: 67 → 84. 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 Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Lake, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lake is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 528 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). 5.1% of Lake households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,607th of 4,866: where Lake ranks among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,605 | Hartsgrove Township OH | 1,621 | $103K | 39.6% | 0.0% | <1% | C |
| 2,606 | Summit WI | 1,048 | $71K | 11.6% | 1.0% | 1% | C |
| 2,607 | Lake WI | 1,242 | $78K | 10.3% | 3.2% | 1% | C |
| 2,608 | Kaloko HI | 1,432 | $104K | 17.5% | 10.3% | 1% | C |
| 2,609 | Medley FL | 1,075 | $41K | 21.0% | 2.3% | 7% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Lake and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Stephenson (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake | – | C | C+ | 28 min | $77,857 |
| Beaver | 2% | C− | D | 31 min | $65,455 |
| Grover | under 3% | C+ | C+ | 19 min | $71,767 |
| Middle Inlet | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Porterfield | under 3% | B− | D− | 24 min | $74,500 |
| Stephenson | 4% | D | C− | 26 min | $56,550 |
| Wagner | under 3% | — | — | 34 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Middle Inlet and Wagner: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lake’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 Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Lake?
$77,857 (±$15,082) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake?
10.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake?
28 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marinette (14%, 15 mi), Crivitz (14%, 6 mi), Coleman (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lake walkable?
Lake is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake
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.