Lincoln draws 872 commuters a day, with 2.1 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Lincoln C; getting around on foot earns it C−. 968 jobs are based in Lincoln for 452 working residents. About one in five stay in Lincoln for work; outside it, Crandon is the main destination (17%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Lincoln apart
Lincoln is where the jobs are
Lincoln has 968 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,700 people are in town, 44% more than the 1,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Lincoln and Crandon trade workers both ways
Crandon is the top workplace for Lincoln residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Lincoln come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The jobs in Lincoln pay better than its residents’ jobs
68% of the jobs based in Lincoln pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 53% of the jobs Lincoln residents hold. 90% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Lincoln. 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 452 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Lincoln
On income, poverty and job access, Lincoln is better than 25% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Lincoln’s grade up ($79,091, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.1%) is left out: Lincoln’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lincoln could be anywhere from D to C+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Lincoln
On a workday 356 residents head out to work and 96 work right here.
About 1,700 people are in Lincoln on a workday afternoon, 44% more 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.
Who travels to work in Lincoln, and from where
Where Lincoln clocks in
7% of workers
6% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lincoln, 2013 → 2023: 768 → 968. 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 Lincoln’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Lincoln: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lincoln workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 436 commuters (the 6% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Lincoln
About 29% 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.
In Lincoln, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lincoln is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Lincoln 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 466 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). 2.2% of Lincoln households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lincoln’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600, Lincoln ranks 2,655th of 4,312 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,653 | Clarksfield Township OH | 1,588 | $73K | 9.8% | 8.5% | <1% | C |
| 2,654 | Bethel Township PA | 1,564 | $75K | 10.4% | 3.1% | 8% | C |
| 2,655 | Lincoln WI | 1,167 | $79K | 12.0% | 3.1% | 21% | C |
| 2,656 | Glenmoor OH | 1,590 | $74K | 20.4% | 6.8% | 1% | C |
| 2,657 | York Township IN | 1,128 | $76K | 14.3% | 7.0% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 Lincoln, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
30% of Lincoln works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lincoln workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln | – | C | C− | 21 min | $79,091 |
| Nashville | 7% | D− | B | 19 min | $56,389 |
| Laona | 6% | D | C− | 23 min | $63,281 |
| Crandon | 17% | D− | A− | 18 min | $42,784 |
| Crandon | under 1% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Argonne | under 1% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Crandon: the same community as the city of that name, graded once. Argonne: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Crandon. Darker towns draw more of Lincoln’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 Lincoln: questions
What is the median household income in Lincoln?
$79,091 (±$11,423) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lincoln?
12.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lincoln?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lincoln work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Crandon (17%, 2 mi), Nashville (7%, 7 mi), Rhinelander (6%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lincoln walkable?
Lincoln is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lincoln without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lincoln, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lincoln
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.