Photo: AsherHeimermann · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Sheboygan (2.7%) is lower than in 75% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Sheboygan itself; outside it, Kohler draws the most (8%, 2 miles). For jobs and income Sheboygan is better than 54% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−). Commuters spend 17 minutes getting to work on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Sheboygan
Most Sheboygan residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Sheboygan are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 38 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Sheboygan’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Sheboygan’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($62,927, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sheboygan could be anywhere from B− to B.
Miles to work from Sheboygan
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.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sheboygan workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23,159 commuters (the 9% 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 Sheboygan: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 13,934 residents head out to work, 8,426 work right here, and 15,166 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.06 per resident).
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 Sheboygan: the destinations
Where Sheboygan clocks in
8% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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 Sheboygan: what the 23,592 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sheboygan, 2013 → 2023: 24,132 → 23,592. 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 Sheboygan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Sheboygan is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 25,389 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). 8.1% of Sheboygan households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sheboygan’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Sheboygan is 584th of 887 U.S. towns of 35,000 to 67,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| 3 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Brookfield WI | 41,448 | $130K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | New Berlin WI | 39,953 | $101K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Oak Creek WI | 38,296 | $97K | 4.9% | 1.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 582 | Douglasville GA | 41,523 | $79K | 10.7% | 6.0% | 8% | B− |
| 583 | Leominster MA | 44,194 | $84K | 9.2% | 6.2% | 21% | B− |
| 584 | Sheboygan WI | 49,376 | $63K | 12.3% | 2.7% | 38% | B− |
| 585 | Montebello CA | 60,693 | $80K | 12.1% | 7.1% | 7% | B− |
| 586 | Haltom City TX | 45,542 | $59K | 15.1% | 3.6% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 887 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Sheboygan, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Work next door: 10% of Sheboygan’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Kohler. Darker towns draw more of Sheboygan’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 Sheboygan: questions
What is the median household income in Sheboygan?
$62,927 (±$2,456) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sheboygan?
12.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sheboygan?
17 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sheboygan work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kohler (8%, 2 mi), Plymouth (5%, 12 mi), Sheboygan Falls (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sheboygan walkable?
Sheboygan is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sheboygan without a car?
1% 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 Sheboygan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sheboygan
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.