Most of Oulu commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
There are 34 jobs in Oulu, against 194 working residents. Only 3% work in Oulu itself; outside it, Duluth draws the most (12%, 32 miles). 1% of workers work from home, where Wisconsin as a whole has 13%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Oulu, and who commutes in
On a workday 188 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 28 people come in from elsewhere.
About 420 people are in Oulu on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
The towns that employ Oulu’s residents
Where Oulu clocks in
12% of workers
11% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 56% of the jobs in Oulu
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oulu, 2013 → 2023: 20 → 34. 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 Oulu’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Oulu: about 34 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oulu workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 231 commuters (the 1% 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 many miles Oulu commutes
About 20% 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.
How Oulu compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oulu workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oulu | – | — | — | 34 min | $96,875 |
| Tripp | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Orienta | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Brule | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Hughes | under 2% | — | — | 42 min | — |
| Cloverland | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Tripp, Orienta, Brule and Hughes: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Cloverland: the same community as the town of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oulu’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 Oulu: questions
What is the median household income in Oulu?
$96,875 (±$8,663) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oulu?
8.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oulu?
34 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oulu work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Duluth (12%, 32 mi), Port Wing (11%, 11 mi), Superior (10%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Oulu without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oulu, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oulu
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.