Pelican has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.6 for each
For jobs and income Pelican is better than 38% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (B−). There are 689 jobs in Pelican; 1,251 of its residents have a job. Only 5% stay in Pelican for work; outside it, Rhinelander is the main destination (37%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Pelican at work: what stands out
A lot of Pelican works one town over
40% of working residents work in a town that borders Pelican: Rhinelander (37%) and Crescent (3%). Next door ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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.
Why Pelican gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Unemployment holds Pelican’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pelican could be anywhere from D to B+.
The distance from Pelican to work
About 34% 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 many people are in Pelican by day
On a workday 1,187 residents head out to work, 64 work right here, and 625 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Pelican on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
Where Pelican goes to work
Where Pelican clocks in
37% of workers
2% 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.
Pelican works in goods: 30% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pelican, 2013 → 2023: 559 → 689. 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 Pelican’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Pelican spends getting to work: 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 Pelican workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,248 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.
The commute in Pelican is mostly behind the wheel
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,405 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). 1.3% of Pelican households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Pelican’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pelican is 2,802nd of 4,703 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Center WI | 3,706 | $115K | 1.6% | 0.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,800 | Clifton TX | 3,523 | $65K | 9.5% | 4.0% | 25% | C+ |
| 2,801 | Acton ME | 2,735 | $79K | 7.8% | 4.6% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,802 | Pelican WI | 2,840 | $62K | 11.5% | 2.4% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,803 | Mount Oliver PA | 3,222 | $52K | 15.1% | 5.5% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,804 | Veteran NY | 3,179 | $65K | 7.5% | 5.6% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Pelican, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Work next door: 40% of Pelican’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pelican workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pelican | – | C+ | B− | 18 min | $62,198 |
| Rhinelander | 37% | C+ | A | 16 min | $51,421 |
| Stella | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Enterprise | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Crescent | 3% | B | C+ | 32 min | $84,199 |
| Monico | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Pine Lake | under 2% | B | B | 16 min | $83,611 |
Same-state neighbors only. Stella, Enterprise and Monico: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Rhinelander. Darker towns draw more of Pelican’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 Pelican: questions
What is the median household income in Pelican?
$62,198 (±$13,396) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pelican?
11.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pelican?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pelican work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rhinelander (37%, 5 mi), Crescent (3%, 6 mi), Wausau (2%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pelican walkable?
Pelican is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pelican without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pelican, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pelican
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.