Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railroad Depot · Photo: Tgkrause · CC BY-SA 3.0New Glarus has 1.2 jobs for every working resident: 1,222 people commute in to work
Jobs & income B+: better than 67% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access.
Walkability A: more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are higher than in 78% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 28 minutes each way (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in New Glarus; the top destination outside it is Madison (24%, 22 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 New Glarus
New Glarus has added jobs fast
Jobs based in New Glarus went from 884 in 2013 to 1,369 in 2023, +55%. The jobs ↓
New Glarus makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in New Glarus are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs New Glarus residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
New Glarus workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 46 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind New Glarus’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, New Glarus is better than 67% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds New Glarus’ grade up (3.6%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Glarus could be anywhere from B− to A.
New Glarus makes things: 42% of its jobs are in goods
1,369 jobs are based in New Glarus. Here is what they are, next to the jobs New Glarus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Glarus, 2013 → 2023: 884 → 1,369. 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.
About 28 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Glarus workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 920 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
New Glarus fills up on a workday
On a workday 973 residents head out to work, 147 work right here, and 1,222 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in New Glarus on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 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.
24% of working residents work in Madison
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where New Glarus clocks in
24% of workers
9% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of New Glarus commutes less than 19 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
New Glarus is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Glarus is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place New Glarus 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 1,041 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). 6.6% of New Glarus households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of New Glarus’ commuters take a bus or train.
New Glarus is 1,380th of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of New Glarus, 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 35 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,378 | Waynesville OH | 2,890 | $79K | 12.4% | 2.6% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,379 | Fritch TX | 1,751 | $89K | 5.2% | 2.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,380 | New Glarus WI | 2,266 | $101K | 3.6% | 6.3% | 13% | B+ |
| 1,381 | Tyrone Township PA | 2,355 | $77K | 12.4% | 1.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,382 | North Newton Township PA | 2,600 | $78K | 9.4% | 2.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | 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.
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 New Glarus: questions
What is the median household income in New Glarus?
$101,098 (±$7,779) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Glarus?
3.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Glarus?
28 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Glarus work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (24%, 22 mi), Monroe (9%, 14 mi), Fitchburg (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is New Glarus walkable?
New Glarus is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Glarus without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Glarus, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Glarus
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.