Photo: self · CC BY-SA 2.5Oshkosh has lower unemployment (2.8%) than 73% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 6.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 12.9 in Milwaukee. Jobs and income earn Oshkosh B−; getting around on foot earns it A. About two in five work in Oshkosh; the top destination outside it is Appleton (5%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Inside Oshkosh’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oshkosh is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #292 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car holds Oshkosh’s grade up (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oshkosh could be anywhere from C+ to B.
Oshkosh by day and by night
On a workday 16,937 residents head out to work, 12,507 work right here, and 27,542 people come in from elsewhere.
About 78,000 people are in Oshkosh on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 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.
Commuting out of Oshkosh: the destinations
Where Oshkosh clocks in
5% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
Inside Oshkosh’s 40,049 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oshkosh, 2013 → 2023: 38,134 → 40,049. 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 Oshkosh’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Oshkosh: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oshkosh workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 30,505 commuters (the 10% 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.
How far Oshkosh’s workers travel
About 16% 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.
Oshkosh is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oshkosh is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #14 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Oshkosh 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 34,039 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 50% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% 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). 7.7% of Oshkosh households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Oshkosh’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Oshkosh is 452nd of 660 U.S. towns of 47,000 to 91,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Wauwatosa WI | 48,649 | $101K | 5.8% | 2.1% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 214 | Waukesha WI | 70,872 | $84K | 9.8% | 2.7% | 20% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 269 | Appleton WI | 75,452 | $80K | 8.3% | 3.5% | 25% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 450 | Taunton MA | 62,522 | $79K | 13.0% | 5.8% | 16% | B− |
| 451 | Missoula MT | 78,903 | $70K | 11.8% | 3.8% | 72% | B− |
| 452 | Oshkosh WI | 67,460 | $62K | 17.5% | 2.8% | 42% | B− |
| 453 | South Gate CA | 90,071 | $75K | 12.7% | 7.4% | 5% | B− |
| 454 | Eau Claire WI | 72,465 | $67K | 14.3% | 3.4% | 50% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 660 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Oshkosh, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door to Oshkosh
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oshkosh workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oshkosh | – | B− | A | 18 min | $62,188 |
| Black Wolf | under 2% | A | C− | 23 min | $98,669 |
| Nekimi | under 2% | A− | C | 19 min | $97,000 |
| Algoma | under 2% | A+ | D | 18 min | $107,290 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oshkosh’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 Oshkosh: questions
What is the median household income in Oshkosh?
$62,188 (±$2,750) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oshkosh?
17.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oshkosh?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oshkosh work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Appleton (5%, 20 mi), Neenah (5%, 11 mi), Fond du Lac (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oshkosh walkable?
Oshkosh is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oshkosh without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 50% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oshkosh, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oshkosh
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.