Smith Valley School · Photo: Jonathunder · CC BY-SA 3.0Work means La Crosse for about half of Medary’s working residents
Hardly any work in Medary itself; outside it, La Crosse draws the most (48%, 3 miles). For jobs and income Medary is better than 86% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (C+). Household incomes here are higher than in 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Medary
Most Medary residents work close to home
73% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Medary is a place people come home to
There are 127 jobs based in Medary, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Medary has about 930 people in it, 41% 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 761 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Medary
The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.8%, 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 (1.6%) is left out: Medary’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, Medary could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Where in the region Medary works
About 18% 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.
Medary by day and by night
On a workday 757 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 123 people come in from elsewhere.
About 930 people are in Medary on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
0.17 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 places Medary commutes to
Where Medary clocks in
48% 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.
The kinds of work in Medary
127 jobs are based in Medary.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Medary, 2013 → 2023: 70 → 127. 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 Medary’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from Medary
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Medary workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 589 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.
The commute in Medary is mostly behind the wheel
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 659 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 5% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% 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). 0.5% of Medary households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Medary’s commuters take a bus or train.
Medary is 449th of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 447 | Laurel Springs NJ | 1,999 | $119K | 4.3% | 5.5% | 2% | A |
| 448 | Union Township IN | 1,256 | $103K | 3.5% | 0.6% | 3% | A |
| 449 | Medary WI | 1,563 | $105K | 3.8% | 1.6% | 1% | A |
| 450 | Blue Jay OH | 1,797 | $118K | 8.2% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| 451 | Nokesville VA | 1,226 | $97K | 3.8% | 4.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Medary, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
61% of Medary works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Medary workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medary | – | A | C+ | 22 min | $105,114 |
| La Crosse | 48% | C+ | A+ | 16 min | $55,866 |
| Onalaska | 11% | B+ | B | 17 min | $85,867 |
| Barre | under 2% | A− | C | 20 min | $105,956 |
| Shelby | under 2% | A | B | 20 min | $110,341 |
| Hamilton | under 2% | A− | C | 21 min | $112,500 |
| Onalaska | 2% | A | C− | 21 min | $106,700 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to La Crosse. Darker towns draw more of Medary’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 Medary: questions
What is the median household income in Medary?
$105,114 (±$12,265) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Medary?
3.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Medary?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Medary work?
1% work in town.
Is Medary walkable?
Medary is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Medary without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Medary, from the people who make the trip.
More of Medary
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.