Photo: Cbradshaw · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Mercer are lower than in 69% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Mercer are C− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 9.5% of residents, where Wisconsin as a whole has 10.6%. About one in three stay in Mercer for work; outside it, Hurley is the main destination (5%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Mercer apart
Many jobs in Mercer pay little
34% of the jobs based in Mercer pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 ↓
Mercer’s workforce skews older
40% of Mercer’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 512 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Mercer: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Mercer is better than 19% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Mercer’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.6%) is left out: Mercer’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, Mercer could be anywhere from D to C.
Mercer works in goods: 29% of its jobs
371 jobs are based in Mercer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mercer, 2013 → 2023: 337 → 371. 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 Mercer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Mercer
About 31% 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.
Mercer on a workday afternoon
On a workday 353 residents head out to work, 159 work right here, and 212 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
0.72 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 towns that employ Mercer’s residents
Where Mercer clocks in
5% of workers
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.
The trip to work from Mercer: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mercer workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 443 commuters (the 10% 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.
Most trips from Mercer start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mercer is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Mercer 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 494 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). 3.4% of Mercer households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mercer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200, Mercer ranks 3,853rd of 5,381 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,851 | Sheridan Township MI | 1,911 | $60K | 10.1% | 14.5% | 2% | C− |
| 3,852 | Ronald Township MI | 1,899 | $63K | 11.9% | 2.6% | 1% | C− |
| 3,853 | Mercer WI | 1,649 | $63K | 9.5% | 0.6% | 31% | C− |
| 3,854 | La Crosse KS | 1,225 | $54K | 8.1% | 0.5% | 27% | C− |
| 3,855 | Mountain Lake Park MD | 2,101 | $61K | 15.2% | 5.7% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | 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 Mercer, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns around Mercer
The biggest share goes to Manitowish Waters (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mercer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | – | C− | C− | 27 min | $63,281 |
| Sherman | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Oma | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Knight | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Carey | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Agenda | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Winchester | 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Manitowish Waters | 4% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Sherman and Winchester: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Oma, Knight, Carey, Agenda and Manitowish Waters: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mercer’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 Mercer: questions
What is the median household income in Mercer?
$63,281 (±$6,834) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mercer?
9.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mercer?
27 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mercer work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hurley (5%, 21 mi), Lac du Flambeau (5%, 18 mi), Manitowish Waters (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mercer walkable?
Mercer is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mercer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mercer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mercer
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.