Photo: self · CC BY-SA 2.5A job hub: Marathon City has 3.0 jobs per working resident, and 2,167 people come in to work
Marathon City grades A− for jobs and income and B for walkability. 2,277 jobs are based in Marathon City; 766 of its residents have a job. About one in seven work in Marathon City itself; outside it, Wausau draws the most (25%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Marathon City apart
Marathon City is where the jobs are
Marathon City has 2,277 jobs, 3.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,100 people are in town, 98% more than the 1,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Marathon City makes and builds things
71% of the jobs based in Marathon City are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Marathon City residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 31%. The jobs ↓
Marathon City and Wausau trade workers both ways
Wausau is the top workplace for Marathon City residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Marathon City come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 766 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Marathon City
On income, poverty and job access, Marathon City is better than 80% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.4%) is left out: Marathon City’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, Marathon City could be anywhere from B+ to A.
How a workday changes Marathon City
On a workday 656 residents head out to work and 110 work right here.
About 3,100 people are in Marathon City on a workday afternoon, 98% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Marathon City works in goods: 71% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marathon City, 2014 → 2024: 1,949 → 2,277. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Marathon City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Marathon City: where workers come from
Where Marathon City clocks in
25% 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.
A commute of about 17 minutes in Marathon City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marathon City workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 623 commuters (the 15% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Marathon City
About 20% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Marathon City is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Marathon City is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 737 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). 4.3% of Marathon City households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Marathon City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100, Marathon City ranks 641st of 5,794 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 639 | Luxemburg WI | 1,468 | $89K | 4.1% | 0.6% | 2% | A− |
| 640 | Richlandtown PA | 1,335 | $74K | 5.0% | 5.1% | <1% | A− |
| 641 | Marathon City WI | 1,547 | $90K | 3.9% | 0.4% | 14% | A− |
| 642 | Madison Township IN | 1,788 | $101K | 5.8% | 0.0% | 6% | A− |
| 643 | Perry Township OH | 1,459 | $98K | 0.0% | 0.0% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Marathon City, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
How Marathon City compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Marathon City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marathon City | – | A− | B | 17 min | $89,519 |
| Marathon | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Cassel | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Rib Falls | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Stettin | under 2% | A | C− | 22 min | $104,697 |
Same-state neighbors only. Marathon and Cassel: not graded. Rib Falls: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Marathon City’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 2024, 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 Marathon City: questions
What is the median household income in Marathon City?
$89,519 (±$6,920) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marathon City?
3.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marathon City?
17 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marathon City work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wausau (25%, 10 mi), Marshfield (5%, 25 mi), Weston (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Marathon City walkable?
Marathon City is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marathon City 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 Marathon City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marathon City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.