Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0Work and commuting in Mellen
The average commute takes 13 minutes each way, where Wisconsin has 22 and the U.S. 26. 5% of workers have no commute at all, next to 13% for Wisconsin as a whole. About one in four work in Mellen; the top destination outside it is Ashland (15%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Mellen in brief
Mellen makes and builds things
60% of the jobs based in Mellen are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Mellen residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 33%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Mellen’s workforce skews older
42% of Mellen’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. 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 274 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
A place that makes things: 60% of Mellen’s jobs are in goods
428 jobs are based in Mellen.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mellen, 2013 → 2023: 443 → 428. 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 Mellen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Mellen’s commute, mile by mile
About 36% 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.
A workday in Mellen: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 206 residents head out to work, 68 work right here, and 360 people come in from elsewhere.
About 840 people are in Mellen on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
1.6 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 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that send workers to Mellen
Where Mellen clocks in
15% 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.
Each way, about 13 minutes from Mellen
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mellen workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 248 commuters (the 5% 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 towns around Mellen
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mellen workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mellen | – | — | — | 13 min | $41,875 |
| Morse | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Morse: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mellen’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 Mellen: questions
What is the median household income in Mellen?
$41,875 (±$5,132) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mellen?
21.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mellen?
13 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mellen work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ashland (15%, 20 mi), Park Falls (6%, 29 mi), Eau Claire (3%, 112 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mellen without a car?
2% 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 Mellen, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mellen
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.