Where Lima earns its living
A typical one-way commute lasts 22 minutes, next to 22 for Wisconsin and 26 for the U.S. At home: 21% of workers have no commute at all (Wisconsin 13%). Only 7% work in Lima itself; outside it, Durand draws the most (15%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Lima: the gist
Lima and Durand trade workers both ways
Durand is the top workplace for Lima residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Lima come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The quickest commute around
Lima’s 22-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 26 to 36 minutes. Next door ↓
Lima makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Lima are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Lima residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 29%. The jobs ↓
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 364 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The towns that employ Lima’s residents
Where Lima clocks in
Lines 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.
Goods jobs make up 38% of work in Lima
324 jobs are based in Lima.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lima, 2013 → 2023: 152 → 324. 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 Lima’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lima by day and by night
On a workday 340 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 300 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 (0.89 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.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Lima
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lima workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 324 commuters (the 21% 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.
Miles to work from Lima
About 27% 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.
How Lima compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Durand (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lima workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lima | – | — | — | 22 min | $78,750 |
| Durand | 4% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Peru | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Albany | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Canton | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Durand and Albany: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Peru and Canton: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lima’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 Lima: questions
What is the median household income in Lima?
$78,750 (±$18,550) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lima?
9.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lima?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lima work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Durand (15%, 6 mi), Eau Claire (9%, 21 mi), Menomonie (8%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Lima without a car?
0% 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 Lima, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lima
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.