Merrillan has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Merrillan has 27 jobs; 270 of its residents have a job. Hardly any work in Merrillan; the top destination outside it is Black River Falls (20%, 10 miles). The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Merrillan in brief
The daily flow of workers through Merrillan
On a workday 270 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 27 people come in from elsewhere.
About 300 people are in Merrillan on a workday afternoon, 45% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Merrillan work
Where Merrillan clocks in
Lines 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.
What Merrillan’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Merrillan, 2013 → 2023: 67 → 27. 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 Merrillan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 18 minutes from Merrillan
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Merrillan workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 206 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.
The distance from Merrillan to work
About 25% 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.
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 Merrillan: questions
What is the median household income in Merrillan?
$52,273 (±$7,977) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Merrillan?
19.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Merrillan?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Merrillan work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Black River Falls (20%, 10 mi), Brockway (9%, 12 mi), Alma (7%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Merrillan without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Merrillan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Merrillan
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.