With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Milford works elsewhere
Hardly any work in Milford itself; outside it, Waterloo draws the most (9%, 9 miles). There are 138 jobs in Milford, against 480 working residents. The two grades for Milford are A− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Milford apart
Milford is a place people come home to
There are 138 jobs based in Milford, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Milford has about 770 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Milford workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 480 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Milford: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Milford is better than 80% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (1.2%) is left out: Milford’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, Milford could be anywhere from B to A.
In and out of Milford on a workday
On a workday 477 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 135 people come in from elsewhere.
About 770 people are in Milford on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
About 27 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milford workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 609 commuters (the 8% 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.
Commuting out of Milford: the destinations
Where Milford clocks in
9% of workers
9% 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.
Milford works in goods: 33% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milford, 2013 → 2023: 164 → 138. 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 Milford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Milford
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.
In Milford, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Milford is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 660 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). 2.0% of Milford households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Milford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500, Milford ranks 343rd of 3,771 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 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 341 | Philpot KY | 1,036 | $88K | 1.2% | 5.5% | 2% | A− |
| 342 | Ellsworth WI | 1,136 | $121K | 3.1% | 0.4% | 3% | A− |
| 343 | Milford WI | 1,108 | $88K | 4.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A− |
| 344 | Mitchell WI | 1,293 | $97K | 2.7% | 7.2% | 4% | A− |
| 345 | Huff Township IN | 1,046 | $128K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Milford, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
How Milford compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lake Mills (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Milford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milford | – | A− | C+ | 27 min | $88,355 |
| Watertown | under 2% | A− | C | 25 min | $99,886 |
| Farmington | under 2% | B+ | C− | 34 min | $88,021 |
| Aztalan | under 2% | A | C− | 24 min | $105,000 |
| Waterloo | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Shields | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Lake Mills | 6% | A | B− | 23 min | $91,027 |
| Lake Mills | under 2% | A+ | C+ | 29 min | $119,485 |
Same-state neighbors only. Waterloo: the same community as the city of that name, graded once. Shields: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Milford’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 Milford: questions
What is the median household income in Milford?
$88,355 (±$24,851) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milford?
4.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milford?
27 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milford work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waterloo (9%, 9 mi), Madison (9%, 31 mi), Sun Prairie (7%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Milford walkable?
Milford is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Milford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milford
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.