Unemployment in Onalaska (1.4%) is lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Onalaska is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Onalaska is better than 91% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (C−). Only 3% work in Onalaska itself; outside it, La Crosse draws the most (41%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Onalaska and work: the main findings
Much of Onalaska works one town over
49% of working residents work in a town that borders Onalaska: La Crosse (41%), Holmen (7%) and Campbell (1%). Next door ↓
Most Onalaska residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Onalaska makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Onalaska are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Onalaska residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 18%. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Onalaska are in trade, transport and utilities, against 22% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
Why Onalaska gets the Jobs & income grade it does
The poverty rate holds Onalaska’s grade up (2.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Onalaska could be anywhere from A− to A+.
How far Onalaska’s workers travel
About 17% 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.
Onalaska works in goods: 38% of its jobs
1,399 jobs are based in Onalaska.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Onalaska, 2013 → 2023: 1,117 → 1,399. 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 Onalaska’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Onalaska quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,780 residents head out to work, 95 work right here, and 1,304 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Onalaska on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.49 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.
Where the trip to work from Onalaska ends
Where Onalaska clocks in
41% 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.
Time on the road from Onalaska: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Onalaska workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,442 commuters (the 15% 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 of Onalaska commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,878 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 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% 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). 1.7% of Onalaska households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Onalaska’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Onalaska is 375th of 3,375 U.S. towns of 4,100 to 7,800
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 373 | Brier WA | 6,597 | $132K | 6.7% | 3.3% | 1% | A |
| 374 | Mine Hill Township NJ | 4,160 | $120K | 2.2% | 4.8% | 3% | A |
| 375 | Onalaska WI | 5,809 | $107K | 2.7% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| 376 | East Petersburg PA | 4,702 | $92K | 3.3% | 2.9% | 2% | A |
| 377 | Wyldwood TX | 4,934 | $88K | 3.6% | 2.2% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,375 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Onalaska, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Onalaska and its neighbors: 49% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Onalaska workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onalaska | – | A | C− | 21 min | $106,700 |
| Holmen | 7% | A− | B− | 24 min | $79,899 |
| Holland | under 1% | A | C | 24 min | $119,609 |
| Campbell | 1% | C− | A− | 15 min | $60,202 |
| Hamilton | under 1% | A− | C | 21 min | $112,500 |
| La Crosse | 41% | C+ | A+ | 16 min | $55,866 |
| Medary | under 1% | A | C+ | 22 min | $105,114 |
| Farmington | under 1% | C+ | D | 31 min | $70,550 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to La Crosse. Darker towns draw more of Onalaska’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 Onalaska: questions
What is the median household income in Onalaska?
$106,700 (±$24,521) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Onalaska?
2.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Onalaska?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Onalaska work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Crosse (41%, 10 mi), Onalaska (15%, 6 mi), Holmen (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Onalaska walkable?
Onalaska is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Onalaska without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Onalaska, from the people who make the trip.
More of Onalaska
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.