With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Seneca works elsewhere
Working residents average 23 minutes each way, next to 22 for Wisconsin and 26 for the U.S. Seneca has 75 jobs, against 471 working residents. Seneca grades C+ for jobs and income and D− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Seneca apart on work
Seneca is a place people come home to
There are 75 jobs based in Seneca, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Seneca has about 630 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Seneca and Wisconsin Rapids trade workers both ways
Wisconsin Rapids is the top workplace for Seneca residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Seneca come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 471 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Seneca’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Seneca is better than 44% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Seneca’s grade up ($86,779, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (4.7%) is left out: Seneca’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, Seneca could be anywhere from C to B.
In and out of Seneca on a workday
On a workday 467 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 71 people come in from elsewhere.
About 630 people are in Seneca on a workday afternoon, 38% 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 2024, primary jobs.
20% of working residents work in Wisconsin Rapids
Where Seneca clocks in
Lines 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.
Half of Seneca commutes less than 20 miles
About 31% 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.
A place that makes things: 57% of Seneca’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Seneca, 2014 → 2024: 53 → 75. 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 Seneca’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Seneca: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Seneca workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 342 commuters (the 12% 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.
Seneca is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Seneca is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Seneca 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 387 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). 1.7% of Seneca households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Seneca’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Seneca is 1,211th among 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Kaukauna WI | 1,295 | $122K | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,209 | Riverdale Park CA | 1,137 | $62K | 10.7% | 0.0% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,210 | Solon NY | 1,054 | $80K | 7.3% | 3.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,211 | Seneca WI | 1,030 | $87K | 11.0% | 4.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,212 | Cañoncito NM | 1,253 | $78K | 8.2% | 0.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,213 | Onsted MI | 1,002 | $67K | 6.4% | 8.5% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Seneca, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Bordering towns draw 20% of Seneca’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Seneca workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seneca | – | C+ | D− | 23 min | $86,779 |
| Wisconsin Rapids | 20% | C− | A− | 20 min | $55,253 |
| Cranmoor | under 2% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Sigel | under 2% | C | C | 24 min | $67,963 |
| Hansen | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Port Edwards | under 2% | C+ | C− | 25 min | $75,598 |
| Port Edwards | under 2% | C | D | 23 min | $81,103 |
Same-state neighbors only. Cranmoor and Hansen: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wisconsin Rapids. Darker towns draw more of Seneca’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 Seneca: questions
What is the median household income in Seneca?
$86,779 (±$6,418) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Seneca?
11.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Seneca?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Seneca work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wisconsin Rapids (20%, 6 mi), Marshfield (7%, 21 mi), Stevens Point (7%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Seneca walkable?
Seneca is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Seneca 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 Seneca, from the people who make the trip.
More of Seneca
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.