Preston has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Measured by household income, Preston is behind 89% of U.S. towns. 118 jobs are based in Preston; 516 of its residents have a job. Preston grades D− for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Preston, in brief
Preston is a place people come home to
There are 118 jobs based in Preston, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Preston has about 1,000 people in it, 28% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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; with 516 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Preston
On income, poverty and job access, Preston is better than 4% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Preston’s grade.
Unemployment (2.4%) is left out: Preston’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, Preston could be anywhere from D− to D.
Preston on a workday afternoon
On a workday 507 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 109 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Preston on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
How far Preston’s workers travel
About 36% 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.
10% of working residents work in Adams
Where Preston 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.
What Preston’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Preston, 2013 → 2023: 92 → 118. 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 Preston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 25 minutes in Preston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Preston workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 493 commuters (the 6% 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.
Most of Preston commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Preston is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns. 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 522 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). 2.1% of Preston households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Preston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Preston next to U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,386 | Millcreek Township IN | 1,422 | $49K | 18.4% | 2.4% | 6% | D− |
| 5,387 | Buckeye Township MI | 1,416 | $53K | 21.0% | 8.4% | 1% | D− |
| 5,388 | Preston WI | 1,441 | $49K | 20.9% | 2.4% | 2% | D− |
| 5,389 | Cottonwood AL | 1,104 | $34K | 27.6% | 1.3% | 1% | D− |
| 5,390 | Boston GA | 1,251 | $45K | 29.5% | 4.0% | 2% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Preston, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Preston and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Adams (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Preston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston | – | D− | D | 25 min | $49,219 |
| Adams | 2% | C | C+ | 26 min | $68,571 |
| Strongs Prairie | under 2% | C− | D | 27 min | $65,500 |
| Richfield | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Big Flats | under 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Richfield: the same community as the town of that name, graded once. Big Flats: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Preston’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 Preston: questions
What is the median household income in Preston?
$49,219 (±$10,500) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Preston?
20.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Preston?
25 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Preston work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Adams (10%, 5 mi), Friendship (10%, 4 mi), Wisconsin Rapids (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Preston walkable?
Preston is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Preston 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 Preston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Preston
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.