Wisconsin Heights Battlefield · Photo: Samuel Marsden Brookes · Public domainHouseholds in Roxbury have higher incomes than those in 92% of U.S. towns
2.7% of residents live below the poverty line (Wisconsin 10.6%). Jobs and income earn Roxbury A+; getting around on foot earns it D. Only 2% work in Roxbury; the top destination outside it is Madison (30%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Roxbury apart on work
Roxbury is a place people come home to
There are 201 jobs based in Roxbury, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Roxbury has about 1,100 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
30% of Roxbury works in Madison
285 working residents, 30%, have their main job in Madison, 16 miles away. That’s 15 times as many as work in Roxbury itself. The commute map ↓
Roxbury workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 937 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Roxbury’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Roxbury is better than 96% of U.S. towns. Unemployment is its strongest input (0.3%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 58% 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, Roxbury could be anywhere from A to A+.
Who commutes out of Roxbury, and who commutes in
On a workday 915 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 179 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Roxbury on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
0.21 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.
Commuting out of Roxbury: the destinations
Where Roxbury clocks in
30% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Roxbury
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roxbury workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 842 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.
Roxbury works in goods: 62% of its jobs
201 jobs are based in Roxbury.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roxbury, 2013 → 2023: 257 → 201. 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 Roxbury’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Roxbury
About 15% 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.
Driving is how Roxbury gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roxbury is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 3.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,054 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). 0.3% of Roxbury households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Roxbury’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,343 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400, Roxbury comes 134th 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 41 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Leland Grove IL | 1,401 | $131K | 2.9% | 2.5% | <1% | A+ |
| 133 | Brooklyn Heights OH | 1,471 | $97K | 3.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| 134 | Roxbury WI | 1,796 | $132K | 2.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 135 | Cavalero WA | 1,591 | $148K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| 136 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | 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 Roxbury, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door is work for 11% of Roxbury
The biggest share goes to Prairie du Sac (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Roxbury workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roxbury | – | A+ | D | 28 min | $132,188 |
| Dane | under 3% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Berry | under 3% | A− | C+ | 23 min | $83,750 |
| West Point | under 3% | A+ | B− | 29 min | $139,632 |
| Prairie du Sac | 6% | A | B | 24 min | $101,049 |
| Sauk City | 5% | B+ | A− | 24 min | $91,042 |
| Mazomanie | under 3% | A− | D− | 23 min | $87,679 |
| Springfield | under 3% | A+ | C | 19 min | $135,216 |
Same-state neighbors only. Dane: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Roxbury’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 Roxbury: questions
What is the median household income in Roxbury?
$132,188 (±$11,482) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roxbury?
2.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roxbury?
28 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roxbury work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (30%, 16 mi), Middleton (7%, 12 mi), Prairie du Sac (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roxbury walkable?
Roxbury is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roxbury without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roxbury, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roxbury
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.