Photo: WorldIslandInfo.com · CC BY 2.0Fewer people are out of work in Neenah (2.2%) than in 82% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average, next to 22 for Wisconsin and 26 for the U.S. Neenah grades A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 12.9 in Milwaukee.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Neenah in brief
Neenah’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Neenah is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #189 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Neenah’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($75,374, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Neenah could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Short hops and long hauls from Neenah
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.
Who commutes out of Neenah, and who commutes in
On a workday 10,878 residents head out to work, 2,462 work right here, and 14,994 people come in from elsewhere.
About 32,000 people are in Neenah on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 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.
13% of working residents work in Appleton
Where Neenah clocks in
13% of workers
10% 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.
Making and building: 31% of jobs based in Neenah
17,456 jobs are based in Neenah.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Neenah, 2013 → 2023: 18,052 → 17,456. 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 Neenah’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 18 minutes to work from Neenah
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Neenah workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,840 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.
Neenah is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Neenah is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #50 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Neenah 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 14,256 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 20% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.3% of Neenah households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Neenah’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Neenah is 603rd of 1,509 U.S. towns of 19,000 to 37,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Muskego WI | 25,602 | $112K | 3.0% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Mequon WI | 25,120 | $144K | 4.2% | 2.6% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 141 | Germantown WI | 21,050 | $100K | 4.9% | 2.1% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 601 | Englewood CO | 35,305 | $87K | 7.7% | 4.3% | 7% | A− |
| 602 | Springville UT | 35,670 | $90K | 7.3% | 3.2% | 13% | A− |
| 603 | Neenah WI | 27,638 | $75K | 8.6% | 2.2% | 18% | A− |
| 604 | DeBary FL | 23,544 | $89K | 5.3% | 4.3% | 4% | A− |
| 605 | Oak Forest IL | 26,792 | $92K | 6.5% | 5.4% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,509 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Neenah, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Neenah and its neighbors: 13% work next door
The biggest share goes to Fox Crossing (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Neenah workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neenah | – | A− | A− | 18 min | $75,374 |
| Vinland | under 2% | A | C | 19 min | $91,094 |
| Fox Crossing | 9% | A− | C+ | 18 min | $79,187 |
| Menasha | 4% | B | B | 22 min | $64,698 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Neenah’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 Neenah: questions
What is the median household income in Neenah?
$75,374 (±$3,841) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Neenah?
8.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Neenah?
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 Neenah work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Appleton (13%, 9 mi), Oshkosh (10%, 11 mi), Fox Crossing (9%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Neenah walkable?
Neenah is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Neenah without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Neenah, from the people who make the trip.
More of Neenah
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.