Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Rhinelander (1.0%) than in 94% of U.S. towns
About two in five work in Rhinelander; the top destination outside it is Pelican (3%, 5 miles). Rhinelander grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Measured by household income, Rhinelander is behind 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Rhinelander: the gist
Rhinelander is the work center of its corner
Every town that borders Rhinelander (Crescent, Pelican, Pine Lake and Newbold) has fewer jobs than working residents, while Rhinelander has 1.9 per resident. Next door ↓
Commutes from Rhinelander are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker. Time on the road ↓
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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Rhinelander earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rhinelander is better than 40% of U.S. towns, #319 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Rhinelander’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($51,421, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rhinelander could be anywhere from C to B−.
About 16 minutes to work from Rhinelander
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rhinelander workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,534 commuters (the 8% 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 it is to work from Rhinelander
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In and out of Rhinelander on a workday
On a workday 2,270 residents head out to work, 1,639 work right here, and 5,673 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Rhinelander on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 Rhinelander’s workforce comes from
Where Rhinelander clocks in
3% 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.
Jobs in Rhinelander: what the 7,312 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rhinelander, 2013 → 2023: 7,610 → 7,312. 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 Rhinelander’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Rhinelander, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rhinelander is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #18 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Rhinelander 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 3,827 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). 7.7% of Rhinelander households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rhinelander’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rhinelander places 1,979th of 2,956 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,977 | Salem Township IL | 8,785 | $65K | 12.2% | 3.2% | 34% | C+ |
| 1,978 | Sturgis SD | 6,922 | $54K | 9.2% | 3.0% | 33% | C+ |
| 1,979 | Rhinelander WI | 8,242 | $51K | 12.8% | 1.0% | 42% | C+ |
| 1,980 | Middlebury VT | 9,208 | $86K | 10.7% | 5.0% | 56% | C+ |
| 1,981 | Kalifornsky AK | 8,663 | $94K | 8.6% | 5.2% | — | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,956 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Rhinelander, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Rhinelander and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rhinelander workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhinelander | – | C+ | A | 16 min | $51,421 |
| Crescent | 2% | B | C+ | 32 min | $84,199 |
| Pelican | 3% | C+ | B− | 18 min | $62,198 |
| Pine Lake | under 2% | B | B | 16 min | $83,611 |
| Newbold | 2% | B+ | C | 21 min | $75,847 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Pelican. Darker towns draw more of Rhinelander’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 Rhinelander: questions
What is the median household income in Rhinelander?
$51,421 (±$7,680) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rhinelander?
12.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rhinelander?
16 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rhinelander work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pelican (3%, 5 mi), Wausau (3%, 48 mi), Minocqua (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rhinelander walkable?
Rhinelander is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rhinelander without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rhinelander, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rhinelander
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.