At 1.8%, unemployment in Minocqua is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 21 minutes each way (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). The two grades for Minocqua are B− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in three work in Minocqua; the top destination outside it is Lac du Flambeau (6%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Minocqua, in brief
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Minocqua
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Minocqua is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #283 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Minocqua’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Minocqua could be anywhere from C to B+.
The commute from Minocqua, by distance
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.
Minocqua fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,393 residents head out to work, 624 work right here, and 2,335 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Minocqua on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 per resident).
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 Minocqua’s residents
Where Minocqua 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.
What Minocqua’s employers do
2,959 jobs are based in Minocqua.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Minocqua, 2013 → 2023: 2,334 → 2,959. 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 Minocqua’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Minocqua: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Minocqua workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,975 commuters (the 9% 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.
Driving is how Minocqua gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Minocqua is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #240 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,163 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). 6.2% of Minocqua households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Minocqua’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,758 U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800, Minocqua comes 1,950th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,948 | Rutland Township MI | 4,308 | $88K | 8.1% | 6.3% | 5% | B− |
| 1,949 | Price Township PA | 3,795 | $83K | 6.9% | 4.2% | 2% | B− |
| 1,950 | Minocqua WI | 5,062 | $69K | 6.9% | 1.8% | 31% | B− |
| 1,951 | North Alamo TX | 4,819 | $55K | 22.9% | 1.3% | <1% | B− |
| 1,952 | Schuylkill Haven PA | 5,253 | $54K | 4.0% | 4.7% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Minocqua, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Work next door: 10% of Minocqua’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Minocqua workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minocqua | – | B− | C+ | 21 min | $69,112 |
| Woodruff | 4% | B− | A− | 19 min | $81,827 |
| Lac du Flambeau | 6% | D− | C+ | 18 min | $57,009 |
| Hazelhurst | under 2% | B− | D | 22 min | $85,300 |
| Little Rice | under 2% | — | — | 45 min | — |
| Lynne | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Emery | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Fifield | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Little Rice, Lynne, Emery and Fifield: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lac du Flambeau. Darker towns draw more of Minocqua’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 Minocqua: questions
What is the median household income in Minocqua?
$69,112 (±$5,167) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Minocqua?
6.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Minocqua?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Minocqua work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lac du Flambeau (6%, 10 mi), Arbor Vitae (6%, 14 mi), Rhinelander (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Minocqua walkable?
Minocqua is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Minocqua without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Minocqua, from the people who make the trip.
More of Minocqua
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.