Photo: Downspec · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer people are out of work in Lancaster (1.8%) than in 87% of U.S. towns
5% of workers work from home; Wisconsin has 13%. Lancaster grades B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in three work in Lancaster; the top destination outside it is Platteville (8%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The figures behind Lancaster’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lancaster is better than 69% of U.S. towns, #227 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Lancaster’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lancaster could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Lancaster on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,285 residents head out to work, 716 work right here, and 1,829 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,600 people are in Lancaster on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 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.
Where people from Lancaster work
Where Lancaster clocks in
8% of workers
4% 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.
The kinds of work in Lancaster
2,545 jobs are based in Lancaster.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lancaster, 2013 → 2023: 2,168 → 2,545. 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 Lancaster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 19 minutes in Lancaster
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lancaster workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,043 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.
How many miles Lancaster commutes
About 26% 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.
Lancaster is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lancaster is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #35 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Lancaster 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 2,149 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). 4.2% of Lancaster households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lancaster’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lancaster ranks: 1,298th of 4,177 U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,296 | Redwood TX | 3,441 | $89K | 2.2% | 7.7% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,297 | Carey OH | 3,529 | $75K | 7.3% | 1.0% | 23% | B+ |
| 1,298 | Lancaster WI | 4,031 | $84K | 6.4% | 1.8% | 36% | B+ |
| 1,299 | Bradford Township PA | 4,471 | $90K | 4.7% | 2.7% | 17% | B+ |
| 1,300 | Sadsbury Township PA | 3,489 | $93K | 11.9% | 2.5% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,177 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Lancaster, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns around Lancaster
The biggest share goes to South Lancaster (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lancaster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster | – | B+ | A− | 19 min | $84,302 |
| North Lancaster | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| South Lancaster | 1% | — | — | 17 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Lancaster and South Lancaster: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lancaster’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 Lancaster: questions
What is the median household income in Lancaster?
$84,302 (±$13,102) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lancaster?
6.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lancaster?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lancaster work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Platteville (8%, 15 mi), Fennimore (4%, 10 mi), Dubuque (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lancaster walkable?
Lancaster is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lancaster without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lancaster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lancaster
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.