Most of Port Edwards commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
259 jobs are based in Port Edwards for 781 working residents. Jobs and income earn Port Edwards C+; getting around on foot earns it C−. Only 3% stay in Port Edwards for work; outside it, Wisconsin Rapids is the main destination (22%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Port Edwards, in brief
A lot of Port Edwards works one town over
34% of working residents work in a town that borders Port Edwards: Wisconsin Rapids (22%), Nekoosa (10%) and Saratoga (2%). Next door ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Port Edwards than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Port Edwards fell from 463 in 2013 to 259 in 2023, −44%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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; with 781 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Port Edwards’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Port Edwards is better than 37% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Port Edwards’ grade up ($75,598, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 35% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.2%) is left out: Port Edwards’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, Port Edwards could be anywhere from C− to B.
The kinds of work in Port Edwards
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Port Edwards, 2013 → 2023: 463 → 259. 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 Port Edwards’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Port Edwards
On a workday 760 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 238 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Port Edwards on a workday afternoon, 30% 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 Port Edwards’ residents
Where Port Edwards clocks in
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.
From Port Edwards, about 25 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Port Edwards workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 616 commuters (the 20% 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 Port Edwards goes to work
About 29% 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 Port Edwards, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 771 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). 2.5% of Port Edwards households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Port Edwards’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400, Port Edwards ranks 3,173rd of 6,085 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,171 | Bells TX | 1,525 | $92K | 11.9% | 7.8% | 5% | C+ |
| 3,172 | Anahuac TX | 2,023 | $78K | 17.6% | 4.5% | 7% | C+ |
| 3,173 | Port Edwards WI | 1,761 | $76K | 12.5% | 3.2% | 3% | C+ |
| 3,174 | Lafayette Township IN | 1,209 | $86K | 11.8% | 0.0% | <1% | C+ |
| 3,175 | Cedar Ridge CA | 1,671 | $82K | 7.9% | 5.9% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Port Edwards, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
34% of Port Edwards works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Port Edwards workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Edwards | – | C+ | C− | 25 min | $75,598 |
| Grand Rapids | under 3% | B+ | D | 24 min | $96,658 |
| Saratoga | 2% | B− | D | 31 min | $74,499 |
| Wisconsin Rapids | 22% | C− | A− | 20 min | $55,253 |
| Nekoosa | 10% | D | B+ | 23 min | $46,458 |
| Seneca | under 3% | C+ | D− | 23 min | $86,779 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wisconsin Rapids. Darker towns draw more of Port Edwards’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 Port Edwards: questions
What is the median household income in Port Edwards?
$75,598 (±$16,011) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Port Edwards?
12.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Port Edwards?
25 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Port Edwards work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wisconsin Rapids (22%, 3 mi), Nekoosa (10%, 4 mi), Stevens Point (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Port Edwards walkable?
Port Edwards is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Port Edwards 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 Port Edwards, from the people who make the trip.
More of Port Edwards
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.