Lima has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
145 jobs are based in Lima, and 556 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Lima is better than 38% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (D). Only 2% stay in Lima for work; outside it, Janesville is the main destination (17%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Lima, in brief
Lima and Janesville trade workers both ways
Janesville is the top workplace for Lima residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Lima come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Lima is a place people come home to
There are 145 jobs based in Lima, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lima has about 870 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 556 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Lima’s Jobs & income grade
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lima’s grade.
Unemployment (1.6%) is left out: Lima’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, Lima could be anywhere from D to A−.
Where people from Lima work
Where Lima clocks in
17% of workers
11% of workers
9% 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.
Lima on a workday afternoon
On a workday 547 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 136 people come in from elsewhere.
About 870 people are in Lima on a workday afternoon, 32% 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.
Lima makes things: 28% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lima, 2013 → 2023: 48 → 145. 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.
About 26 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 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 662 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.
How far it is to work from Lima
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.
Most of Lima commutes by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 3.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 713 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.1% of Lima households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lima’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lima is 2,312th of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,310 | Perry Township PA | 1,217 | $72K | 7.5% | 6.7% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,311 | Walls MS | 1,420 | $59K | 16.2% | 1.0% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,312 | Lima WI | 1,279 | $65K | 11.7% | 1.6% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,313 | Taft Mosswood CA | 1,343 | $59K | 18.4% | 4.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,314 | Winfield MO | 1,660 | $76K | 18.0% | 2.0% | 5% | 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 Lima, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door to Lima
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lima workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lima | – | C+ | D | 26 min | $65,139 |
| Johnstown | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Whitewater | under 2% | A− | C | 27 min | $92,813 |
| Milton | under 2% | A+ | C+ | 28 min | $106,667 |
| Koshkonong | under 2% | A | C− | 19 min | $102,831 |
Same-state neighbors only. Johnstown: 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?
$65,139 (±$20,016) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lima?
11.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lima?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lima work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Janesville (17%, 12 mi), Madison (11%, 36 mi), Whitewater (9%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lima walkable?
Lima is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lima without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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. 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.