Most of Shields commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any stay in Shields for work; outside it, Portage is the main destination (8%, 23 miles). There are 36 jobs in Shields, against 209 working residents. Working residents average 35 minutes each way (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Shields: the figures worth knowing
Shields is a place people come home to
There are 36 jobs based in Shields, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Shields has about 420 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Shields workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 100 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Shields’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Shields is Portage, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (16) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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 209 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who works in Shields, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 209 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 36 people come in from elsewhere.
About 420 people are in Shields on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
About 35 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shields workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 263 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Shields
About 26% 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.
Where Shields’ working residents head each day
Where Shields 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.
A place that makes things: 78% of Shields’ jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shields, 2014 → 2024: 23 → 36. 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 Shields’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Shields and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Mecan (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shields workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shields | – | — | — | 35 min | $70,139 |
| Montello | under 2% | C+ | B− | 30 min | $87,795 |
| Mecan | 2% | — | — | 40 min | — |
| Crystal Lake | under 2% | — | — | 40 min | — |
| Harris | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Packwaukee | under 2% | C− | C | 28 min | $64,167 |
Same-state neighbors only. Mecan, Crystal Lake and Harris: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Shields’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 Shields: questions
What is the median household income in Shields?
$70,139 (±$12,311) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shields?
5.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shields?
35 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shields work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portage (8%, 23 mi), Montello (7%, 4 mi), Westfield (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Shields without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shields, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shields
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.