Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Nekoosa’s household incomes are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 14% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 23 minutes each way (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Nekoosa; the top destination outside it is Wisconsin Rapids (23%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Nekoosa
Nekoosa and Wisconsin Rapids trade workers both ways
Wisconsin Rapids is the top workplace for Nekoosa residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Nekoosa come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nekoosa makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Nekoosa are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Nekoosa residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Nekoosa than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Nekoosa fell from 1,084 in 2013 to 808 in 2023, −25%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
What’s behind Nekoosa’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Nekoosa is better than 14% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Nekoosa’s grade up (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($46,458, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Nekoosa could be anywhere from D− to B−.
23% of working residents work in Wisconsin Rapids
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Nekoosa clocks in
Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Nekoosa makes things: 35% of its jobs are in goods
808 jobs are based in Nekoosa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Nekoosa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nekoosa, 2013 → 2023: 1,084 → 808. 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.
Nekoosa quiets down on a workday
On a workday 928 residents head out to work, 113 work right here, and 695 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Nekoosa on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 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.
About 23 minutes each way, about the WI average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nekoosa workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 870 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.
Half of Nekoosa commutes less than 21 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 27% 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.
Most trips from Nekoosa start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Nekoosa is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 962 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). 7.9% of Nekoosa households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Nekoosa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Nekoosa is 4,131st of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Nekoosa, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Sun Prairie WI | 2,291 | $127K | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,129 | Enterprise OR | 2,103 | $58K | 10.2% | 7.1% | 48% | D |
| 4,130 | Greenfield TN | 2,020 | $47K | 13.5% | 2.4% | 13% | D |
| 4,131 | Nekoosa WI | 2,402 | $46K | 16.6% | 5.2% | 11% | D |
| 4,132 | Reading Township MI | 1,734 | $66K | 17.1% | 4.9% | 1% | D |
| 4,133 | Triangle NY | 2,727 | $72K | 19.0% | 13.8% | 14% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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.
Nekoosa and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Port Edwards (4%). Darker towns draw more of Nekoosa’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Nekoosa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nekoosa | – | D | B+ | 23 min | $46,458 |
| Saratoga | 2% | B− | D | 31 min | $74,499 |
| Port Edwards | under 2% | C | D | 23 min | $81,103 |
| Port Edwards | 4% | C+ | C− | 25 min | $75,598 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Nekoosa: questions
What is the median household income in Nekoosa?
$46,458 (±$16,509) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nekoosa?
16.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nekoosa?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nekoosa work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wisconsin Rapids (23%, 7 mi), Port Edwards (4%, 4 mi), Stevens Point (4%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Nekoosa walkable?
Nekoosa is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Nekoosa without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Nekoosa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nekoosa
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.