Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0Nelson has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Nelson report 112 jobs for 293 working residents. Only 5% stay in Nelson for work; outside it, Wabasha is the main destination (12%, 6 miles). Home is the office for 5% of workers, next to 13% for Wisconsin as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Nelson: the figures worth knowing
Out of Nelson to work: where people go
Where Nelson clocks in
12% of workers
9% of workers
6% 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.
Who works in Nelson, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 277 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 96 people come in from elsewhere.
About 400 people are in Nelson 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.
Nelson makes things: 70% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nelson, 2013 → 2023: 107 → 112. 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 Nelson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Nelson: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nelson workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 219 commuters (the 5% 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.
Half of Nelson commutes less than 26 miles
About 29% 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.
Next door is work for 21% of Nelson
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Nelson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson | – | — | — | 22 min | $78,125 |
| Pepin | under 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Alma | 9% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Modena | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Maxville | under 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Alma | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Pepin, Modena and Maxville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Alma and Alma: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wabasha. Darker towns draw more of Nelson’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 Nelson: questions
What is the median household income in Nelson?
$78,125 (±$20,323) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nelson?
3.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nelson?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nelson work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wabasha (12%, 6 mi), Alma (9%, 8 mi), La Crosse (6%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Nelson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Nelson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nelson
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.