St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0Most of Shields commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Home is the office for 6% of workers; Wisconsin has 13%. 59 jobs are based in Shields; 228 of its residents have a job. Hardly any stay in Shields for work; outside it, Watertown is the main destination (18%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Shields: the gist
Shields and Watertown trade workers both ways
Watertown is the top workplace for Shields residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Shields come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Shields is a place people come home to
There are 59 jobs based in Shields, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Shields has about 340 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Shields workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 54 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 228 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The towns that employ Shields’ residents
Where Shields clocks in
18% of workers
11% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Shields
On a workday 226 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 57 people come in from elsewhere.
About 340 people are in Shields on a workday afternoon, 34% 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 2023, primary jobs.
A commute of about 29 minutes in Shields
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 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 316 commuters (the 6% 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.
39% of the jobs in Shields make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shields, 2013 → 2023: 77 → 59. 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 Shields’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Shields’ commute, mile by mile
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.
Next door to Shields
The biggest share goes to Emmet (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shields workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shields | – | — | — | 29 min | $98,333 |
| Lowell | under 2% | B+ | C | 30 min | $95,592 |
| Emmet | 4% | A− | D | 34 min | $95,938 |
| Milford | under 2% | A− | C+ | 27 min | $88,355 |
| Portland | under 2% | B− | D | 28 min | $81,429 |
| Watertown | under 2% | A− | C | 25 min | $99,886 |
Same-state neighbors only. 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 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 Shields: questions
What is the median household income in Shields?
$98,333 (±$40,734) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shields?
7.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shields?
29 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shields work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watertown (18%, 5 mi), Madison (11%, 32 mi), Juneau (6%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Shields without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% 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), 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.