Most of Ludington commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
32 jobs are based in Ludington for 484 working residents. Jobs and income earn Ludington B−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Hardly any work in Ludington itself; outside it, Eau Claire draws the most (32%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Ludington, in a few figures
Ludington is a place people come home to
There are 32 jobs based in Ludington, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Ludington has about 590 people in it, 44% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Ludington and Eau Claire trade workers both ways
Eau Claire is the top workplace for Ludington residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Ludington come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Ludington workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 38 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 484 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Ludington earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Ludington is better than 52% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Ludington’s grade up ($86,250, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (4.5%) is left out: Ludington’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, Ludington could be anywhere from C to B+.
In and out of Ludington on a workday
On a workday 483 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 31 people come in from elsewhere.
About 590 people are in Ludington on a workday afternoon, 44% 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.
The towns that employ Ludington’s residents
Where Ludington clocks in
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.
Getting to work from Ludington takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ludington workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 379 commuters (the 11% 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.
Ludington works in goods: 69% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ludington, 2013 → 2023: 8 → 32. 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 Ludington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Ludington goes to work
About 19% 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.
Ludington is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ludington is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 4.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 424 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). 6.9% of Ludington households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ludington’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Ludington is 974th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Kaukauna WI | 1,295 | $122K | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 972 | Conrad IA | 1,086 | $73K | 5.2% | 1.3% | 26% | B− |
| 973 | Centre Hall PA | 1,225 | $81K | 8.3% | 12.5% | 1% | B− |
| 974 | Ludington WI | 1,037 | $86K | 7.8% | 4.5% | <1% | B− |
| 975 | Ashland IL | 1,162 | $68K | 4.9% | 2.2% | 6% | B− |
| 976 | Cedar Flat CA | 1,089 | $99K | 6.0% | 5.7% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Ludington, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
How Ludington compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ludington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ludington | – | B− | B− | 27 min | $86,250 |
| Bridge Creek | under 2% | B− | B | 28 min | $83,413 |
| Lincoln | under 2% | B+ | B | 24 min | $111,111 |
| Wilson | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Sigel | under 2% | C | C− | 29 min | $82,292 |
| Seymour | under 2% | A | C | 19 min | $107,436 |
Same-state neighbors only. Wilson: the same community as the town of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ludington’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 Ludington: questions
What is the median household income in Ludington?
$86,250 (±$15,565) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ludington?
7.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ludington?
27 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ludington work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eau Claire (32%, 16 mi), Fall Creek (7%, 7 mi), Chippewa Falls (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ludington walkable?
Ludington is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ludington without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ludington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ludington
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.