Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Households in Niagara earn less than those in 72% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Niagara; the top destination outside it is Iron Mountain (29%, 4 miles). 14.6% of residents are in poverty; Wisconsin has 10.6%. The two grades for Niagara are D for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Niagara, in brief
Many Niagara workers cross into Michigan
63% of Niagara workers work outside Wisconsin, most of them in Michigan, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Niagara and Iron Mountain trade workers both ways
Iron Mountain is the top workplace for Niagara residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Niagara come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Niagara residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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; with 645 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Niagara’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Niagara is better than 10% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Niagara’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (6.0%) is left out: Niagara’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Niagara could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The places Niagara commutes to
Where Niagara clocks in
29% of workers
10% 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.
How far it is to work from Niagara
About 24% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Niagara
On a workday 588 residents head out to work, 57 work right here, and 383 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Niagara on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 440 jobs based in Niagara
440 jobs are based in Niagara.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Niagara, 2013 → 2023: 609 → 440. 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 Niagara’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Niagara takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Niagara workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 659 commuters (the 11% 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.
Most trips from Niagara start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Niagara is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Niagara 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 740 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). 2.5% of Niagara households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Niagara’s commuters take a bus or train.
Niagara next to U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100: 4,825th of 5,794 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,823 | Elbow Lake MN | 1,276 | $60K | 19.3% | 4.9% | 18% | D |
| 4,824 | Marion WI | 1,273 | $61K | 19.6% | 2.2% | 10% | D |
| 4,825 | Niagara WI | 1,577 | $61K | 14.6% | 6.0% | 9% | D |
| 4,826 | Edmeston NY | 1,892 | $68K | 25.7% | 2.3% | 20% | D |
| 4,827 | Otto Township PA | 1,474 | $53K | 16.4% | 5.6% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Niagara, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns around Niagara
The biggest share goes to Breitung Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Niagara workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara | – | D | C | 17 min | $60,994 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Niagara’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 Niagara: questions
What is the median household income in Niagara?
$60,994 (±$4,530) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Niagara?
14.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Niagara?
17 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Niagara work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Iron Mountain (29%, 4 mi), Kingsford (10%, 5 mi), Breitung Township (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Niagara walkable?
Niagara is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Niagara without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Niagara, from the people who make the trip.
More of Niagara
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.