Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0Rochester has lower unemployment (1.0%) than 94% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Rochester A+; getting around on foot earns it C−. Measured by household income, Rochester is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Only 2% work in Rochester; the top destination outside it is Milwaukee (11%, 27 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Rochester apart
Rochester’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Rochester is Milwaukee, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (220) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
45% of the jobs in Rochester are in trade, transport and utilities, against 22% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Rochester is a place people come home to
There are 575 jobs based in Rochester, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Rochester has about 2,400 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Rochester
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rochester is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #27 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 79% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rochester could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Near or far: the trip to work from Rochester
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.
Jobs in Rochester: what the 575 are
575 jobs are based in Rochester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rochester, 2013 → 2023: 430 → 575. 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 Rochester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Rochester on a workday
On a workday 1,927 residents head out to work, 36 work right here, and 539 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Rochester on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
0.29 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Out of Rochester to work: where people go
Where Rochester clocks in
11% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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 Rochester, about 25 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rochester workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,137 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.
Few in Rochester walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rochester is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns, #305 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Rochester 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 2,279 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Rochester households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rochester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,100, Rochester ranks 116th of 4,153 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 114 | Upper Salford Township PA | 3,182 | $139K | 3.6% | 2.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 115 | Lake Success NY | 2,849 | $244K | 4.4% | 3.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 116 | Rochester WI | 3,786 | $107K | 2.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 117 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| 118 | Monticello Township MN | 3,374 | $123K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,153 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Rochester, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door is work for 10% of Rochester
The biggest share goes to Waterford (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rochester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | – | A+ | C− | 25 min | $107,038 |
| Waterford | 8% | A | C+ | 26 min | $82,404 |
| Spring Prairie | under 3% | A | D− | 28 min | $107,955 |
| Waterford | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Dover | under 3% | A | C+ | 28 min | $100,156 |
| Burlington | 2% | A− | C | 25 min | $106,929 |
| Tichigan | under 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Norway | under 3% | A | C | 31 min | $103,278 |
Same-state neighbors only. Waterford: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Tichigan: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rochester’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 Rochester: questions
What is the median household income in Rochester?
$107,038 (±$19,156) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rochester?
2.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rochester?
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 Rochester work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (11%, 27 mi), Waterford (8%, 3 mi), Burlington (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rochester walkable?
Rochester is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rochester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rochester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rochester
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.