Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Russell have lower incomes than those in 90% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Russell; the top destination outside it is Bayfield (25%, 9 miles). Below the poverty line: 31.0% of residents; Wisconsin has 10.6%. Russell grades D− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Russell stands out on work
Most Russell residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Russell are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 454 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Russell’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Russell is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Russell’s grade.
Unemployment (11.4%) is left out: Russell’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Russell stays D−.
Where in the region Russell works
About 19% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The daily trip from Russell: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Russell workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 482 commuters (the 11% 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.
A workday in Russell: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 340 residents head out to work, 114 work right here, and 184 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
0.66 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Russell: the destinations
Where Russell clocks in
25% of workers
19% of workers
4% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Russell
298 jobs are based in Russell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Russell, 2014 → 2024: 301 → 298. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Russell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Russell, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Russell is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 6.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 541 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). 14.5% of Russell households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Russell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Russell next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,281 | Van Buren ME | 1,985 | $40K | 23.0% | 0.3% | 32% | D− |
| 5,282 | Hillman Township MI | 2,151 | $43K | 24.4% | 3.7% | 20% | D− |
| 5,283 | Russell WI | 1,644 | $48K | 31.0% | 11.4% | 25% | D− |
| 5,284 | Lake Kerr FL | 1,697 | $42K | 23.3% | 20.9% | 4% | D− |
| 5,285 | Goodman MS | 1,219 | $15K | 59.0% | 19.5% | 1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Russell, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Russell and its neighbors: 19% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Russell workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russell | – | D− | B+ | 13 min | $48,068 |
| Bayfield | 19% | — | — | 13 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bayfield: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bayfield. Darker towns draw more of Russell’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 2024, 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 Russell: questions
What is the median household income in Russell?
$48,068 (±$4,961) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Russell?
31.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Russell?
13 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Russell work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bayfield (25%, 9 mi), Bayfield (19%, 7 mi), Ashland (4%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Russell walkable?
Russell is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Russell without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Russell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Russell
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.