Medford Post Office · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0There are 2.7 jobs in Medford for every working resident, and 4,230 people commute in
About half stay in Medford for work; outside it, Abbotsford is the main destination (4%, 13 miles). Medford has 5,152 jobs; 1,928 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Medford are B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Medford in brief
Medford is where the jobs are
Medford has 5,152 jobs, 2.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 7,800 people are in town, 70% more than the 4,600 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Medford are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker. Time on the road ↓
Medford makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Medford are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Medford residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 35%. The jobs ↓
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.
Why Medford gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Medford is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #298 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Medford’s grade up (2.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($59,842, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Medford could be anywhere from C to B+.
A workday in Medford: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,006 residents head out to work and 922 work right here.
About 7,800 people are in Medford on a workday afternoon, 70% more than live here.
2.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The trip to work from Medford: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Medford workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,024 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.
Factories, building and farms: 40% of the jobs in Medford
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Medford, 2014 → 2024: 5,314 → 5,152. 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 Medford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Medford’s workers come from
Where Medford clocks in
4% 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.
How far Medford goes to work
About 24% 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.
Getting around Medford: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Medford is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #116 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Medford 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 2,173 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 Medford households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Medford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Medford places 2,188th of 3,938 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,186 | Delta OH | 3,291 | $63K | 15.4% | 2.6% | 8% | B− |
| 2,187 | Millvale PA | 3,211 | $73K | 17.2% | 5.5% | 5% | B− |
| 2,188 | Medford WI | 4,589 | $60K | 7.9% | 2.6% | 48% | B− |
| 2,189 | Lafayette Township IN | 5,289 | $64K | 12.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B− |
| 2,190 | Exeter Township MI | 3,977 | $94K | 9.6% | 11.3% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Medford, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Work in the towns next to Medford
The biggest share goes to Little Black (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Medford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medford | – | B− | B+ | 14 min | $59,842 |
| Little Black | 2% | C+ | C+ | 20 min | $68,906 |
| Deer Creek | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Deer Creek: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Medford’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 Medford: questions
What is the median household income in Medford?
$59,842 (±$6,902) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Medford?
7.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Medford?
14 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Medford work?
48% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Abbotsford (4%, 13 mi), Medford (2%, 3 mi), Little Black (2%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Medford walkable?
Medford is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Medford without a car?
1% 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 Medford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Medford
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.