Most of Spencer commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Working from home is the commute for 10% of workers (Wisconsin 13%). There are 200 jobs in Spencer for 805 working residents. The average commute takes 20 minutes each way, next to 22 for Wisconsin and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Spencer
38% of Spencer works in Marshfield
302 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Marshfield, 5.7 miles away across the town line. That’s 38 times as many as work in Spencer itself. The commute map ↓
Spencer is a place people come home to
There are 200 jobs based in Spencer, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Spencer has about 990 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 805 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
38% of working residents work in Marshfield
Where Spencer clocks in
3% 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.
A workday in Spencer: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 796 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 191 people come in from elsewhere.
About 990 people are in Spencer 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 2023, primary jobs.
59% of the jobs in Spencer make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spencer, 2013 → 2023: 224 → 200. 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 Spencer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 20 minutes each way for Spencer’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spencer workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 824 commuters (the 10% 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.
How far Spencer’s workers travel
About 20% 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.
38% of Spencer works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Spencer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer | – | — | — | 20 min | $100,988 |
| Marshfield | 38% | B− | A | 15 min | $58,407 |
| McMillan | under 2% | B+ | C | 20 min | $112,917 |
| Sherman | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Lincoln | under 2% | A− | C | 17 min | $106,607 |
| Brighton | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Sherman and Brighton: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Marshfield. Darker towns draw more of Spencer’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 Spencer: questions
What is the median household income in Spencer?
$100,988 (±$4,959) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spencer?
4.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spencer?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spencer work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marshfield (38%, 6 mi), Spencer (9%, 3 mi), Abbotsford (3%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Spencer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spencer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spencer
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.