Pleasant Valley’s household incomes are higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
3.0% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.6% across Wisconsin. The two grades for Pleasant Valley are A+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 2% work in Pleasant Valley itself; outside it, Eau Claire draws the most (47%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Pleasant Valley, in brief
Nearly half of Pleasant Valley works in Eau Claire
759 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Eau Claire, 11 miles away. That’s 24 times as many as work in Pleasant Valley itself. The commute map ↓
Pleasant Valley is a place people come home to
There are 241 jobs based in Pleasant Valley, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Pleasant Valley has about 2,500 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Pleasant Valley are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Pleasant Valley gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pleasant Valley is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #48 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment is its strongest input (0.5%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pleasant Valley could be anywhere from A to A+.
Commuting out of Pleasant Valley: the destinations
Where Pleasant Valley clocks in
5% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Pleasant Valley
On a workday 1,567 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 210 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Pleasant Valley on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
0.15 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 2024, primary jobs.
From Pleasant Valley, about 17 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pleasant Valley workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,739 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.
Factories, building and farms: 32% of the jobs in Pleasant Valley
241 jobs are based in Pleasant Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pleasant Valley, 2014 → 2024: 120 → 241. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pleasant Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Pleasant Valley goes to work
About 19% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Pleasant Valley, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pleasant Valley is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns, #314 of 362 in Wisconsin. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 4.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,045 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). 2.4% of Pleasant Valley households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Pleasant Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pleasant Valley next to U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200: 184th of 4,264 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Jefferson MD | 3,314 | $151K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| 183 | Rush NY | 3,468 | $123K | 3.6% | 2.0% | 5% | A+ |
| 184 | Pleasant Valley WI | 3,878 | $140K | 3.0% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| 185 | Cambrian Park CA | 3,494 | $193K | 5.5% | 3.0% | <1% | A+ |
| 186 | Lovettsville VA | 2,708 | $141K | 2.8% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Pleasant Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door to Pleasant Valley
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pleasant Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasant Valley | – | A+ | C− | 17 min | $139,659 |
| Clear Creek | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Drammen | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Washington | 2% | A | C+ | 18 min | $109,984 |
| Albion | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Brunswick | under 2% | A− | C | 23 min | $92,426 |
Same-state neighbors only. Clear Creek and Drammen: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Albion: the same community as the town of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Washington. Darker towns draw more of Pleasant Valley’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 2024, 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 Pleasant Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Pleasant Valley?
$139,659 (±$20,419) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pleasant Valley?
3.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pleasant Valley?
17 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pleasant Valley work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eau Claire (47%, 11 mi), Altoona (5%, 10 mi), Chippewa Falls (4%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Pleasant Valley walkable?
Pleasant Valley is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pleasant Valley without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pleasant Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pleasant Valley
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.