J. H. Morgan House · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0Households in Plover earn more than those in 66% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Plover; the top destination outside it is Stevens Point (33%, 4 miles). Below the poverty line: 9.2% of residents, where Wisconsin as a whole has 10.6%. For jobs and income Plover is better than 63% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Plover
Plover trades workers with the towns around it
Plover has about as many jobs (6,219) as working residents (6,554), but they are mostly different people: 5,762 residents leave for work each day while 5,427 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Plover are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Plover and Stevens Point trade workers both ways
Stevens Point is the top workplace for Plover residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Plover come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Plover makes and builds things
36% 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 ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Plover
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Plover’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Plover could be anywhere from B− to A−.
How many people are in Plover by day
On a workday 5,762 residents head out to work, 792 work right here, and 5,427 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.95 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.
Where Plover goes to work
Where Plover clocks in
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.
Plover works in goods: 36% of its jobs
6,219 jobs are based in Plover.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plover, 2013 → 2023: 5,413 → 6,219. 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 Plover’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Plover 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 Plover workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,108 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.
How far Plover goes to work
About 27% 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.
In Plover, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,876 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). 2.0% of Plover households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Plover’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Plover is 1,122nd among 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Greenville WI | 13,388 | $118K | 1.7% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Whitefish Bay WI | 14,489 | $157K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Verona WI | 16,821 | $120K | 1.4% | 1.6% | 21% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,120 | Spout Springs NC | 11,242 | $92K | 4.2% | 5.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,121 | Silverton OR | 10,450 | $80K | 10.6% | 1.9% | 15% | B |
| 1,122 | Plover WI | 14,274 | $88K | 9.2% | 3.5% | 12% | B |
| 1,123 | Palmetto Estates FL | 16,129 | $82K | 11.6% | 4.6% | 2% | B |
| 1,124 | Valencia West AZ | 14,728 | $100K | 15.0% | 2.8% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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.
Bordering towns draw 34% of Plover’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Plover workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plover | – | B | C+ | 18 min | $88,042 |
| Linwood | under 2% | B+ | D | 20 min | $81,875 |
| Whiting | 1% | B | B+ | 14 min | $73,063 |
| Stevens Point | 33% | C | A | 17 min | $58,031 |
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 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 Plover: questions
What is the median household income in Plover?
$88,042 (±$5,736) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plover?
9.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plover?
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 Plover work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stevens Point (33%, 4 mi), Wisconsin Rapids (6%, 15 mi), Wausau (4%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Plover walkable?
Plover is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plover 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 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), 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.