Norwegian Buildings at Heg Park · Photo: William Garrett · CC BY 2.0Norway has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Employers in Norway report 1,000 jobs; 4,145 of its residents have a job. Norway grades A for jobs and income and C for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Norway apart on work
Norway workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Norway is a place people come home to
There are 1,000 jobs based in Norway, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Norway has about 4,700 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Norway has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Norway went from 721 in 2013 to 1,000 in 2023, +39%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Norway’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Norway is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #119 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Norway could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
About 31 minutes to work from Norway
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Norway workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,517 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
A workday in Norway: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,962 residents head out to work, 183 work right here, and 817 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,700 people are in Norway on a workday afternoon, 40% 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.
In Norway, 31% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Norway, 2013 → 2023: 721 → 1,000. 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 Norway’s own residents hold wherever they work.
16% of working residents work in Milwaukee
Where Norway clocks in
16% of workers
4% 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 Norway goes to work
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.
Most trips from Norway start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Norway is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #273 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Norway 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 3,982 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.0% of Norway households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Norway’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Norway is 494th of 3,026 U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 492 | Bolton MA | 6,477 | $205K | 2.9% | 5.5% | 4% | A |
| 493 | Jackson Township PA | 9,348 | $84K | 4.7% | 0.9% | 12% | A |
| 494 | Norway WI | 7,856 | $103K | 5.4% | 3.2% | 4% | A |
| 495 | Edgewater MD | 8,519 | $114K | 4.6% | 3.9% | 7% | A |
| 496 | Sanger TX | 10,238 | $91K | 7.4% | 1.4% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,026 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Norway, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
How Norway compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Muskego (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Norway workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | – | A | C | 31 min | $103,278 |
| Tichigan | under 4% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Waterford | under 4% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Dover | under 4% | A | C+ | 28 min | $100,156 |
| Muskego | 7% | A+ | B− | 23 min | $112,221 |
| Raymond | under 4% | A+ | C− | 27 min | $109,464 |
| Rochester | under 4% | A+ | C− | 25 min | $107,038 |
Same-state neighbors only. Tichigan: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Waterford: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Norway’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 Norway: questions
What is the median household income in Norway?
$103,278 (±$5,336) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Norway?
5.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Norway?
31 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Norway work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (16%, 20 mi), Muskego (7%, 5 mi), New Berlin (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Norway walkable?
Norway is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Norway without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Norway, from the people who make the trip.
More of Norway
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.