With 0.6 jobs for every working resident, most of Plover works elsewhere
A typical one-way commute lasts 16 minutes (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). Employers in Plover report 428 jobs for 761 working residents. The two grades for Plover are B+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Plover at work: what stands out
30% of Plover works in Stevens Point
232 working residents, 30%, have their main job in Stevens Point, 6.6 miles away across the town line. That’s 30 times as many as work in Plover itself. The commute map ↓
Plover makes and builds things
46% of the jobs based in Plover are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Plover residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 761 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Plover’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Plover is better than 71% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Plover’s grade up (5.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 48% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.2%) is left out: Plover’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Plover could be anywhere from B− to A−.
30% of working residents work in Stevens Point
Where Plover clocks in
Lines 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.
Plover makes things: 46% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plover, 2014 → 2024: 470 → 428. 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 Plover’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Plover
About 30% 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.
Who leaves Plover for work, and who comes in
On a workday 755 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 422 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Plover on a workday afternoon, 21% 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 2024, primary jobs.
From Plover, about 16 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plover workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 464 commuters (the 18% 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.
Few in Plover walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Plover is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Plover 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 569 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). 2.2% of Plover households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Plover’s commuters take a bus or train.
Plover is 1,015th of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,013 | Wells Township MN | 1,585 | $88K | 6.1% | 2.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,014 | Greenfield NH | 1,727 | $104K | 5.2% | 3.7% | 10% | B+ |
| 1,015 | Plover WI | 1,565 | $90K | 5.6% | 1.2% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,016 | Trimbelle WI | 1,720 | $107K | 6.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,017 | Compromise Township IL | 1,285 | $96K | 4.4% | 2.9% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Plover, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Plover and its neighbors: 30% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Plover workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plover | – | B+ | C+ | 16 min | $90,481 |
| Linwood | under 2% | B+ | D | 20 min | $81,875 |
| Stevens Point | 30% | C | A | 17 min | $58,031 |
| Grant | under 2% | B | D | 24 min | $89,167 |
| Buena Vista | under 2% | B− | B | 21 min | $68,472 |
| Stockton | under 2% | A− | C− | 24 min | $87,632 |
| Whiting | under 2% | B | B+ | 14 min | $73,063 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Stevens Point. Darker towns draw more of Plover’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 Plover: questions
What is the median household income in Plover?
$90,481 (±$12,977) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plover?
5.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plover?
16 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plover work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stevens Point (30%, 7 mi), Plover (12%, 3 mi), Wisconsin Rapids (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Plover walkable?
Plover is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plover without a car?
0% 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 Plover, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plover
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.