James Jesse Strang House · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0Spring Prairie has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Spring Prairie grades A for jobs and income and D− for walkability. There are 194 jobs in Spring Prairie; 1,101 of its residents have a job. Measured by household income, Spring Prairie is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Spring Prairie
Spring Prairie is a place people come home to
There are 194 jobs based in Spring Prairie, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Spring Prairie has about 1,200 people in it, 43% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Spring Prairie workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 46 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.
Where Spring Prairie’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Spring Prairie is better than 88% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (2.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Spring Prairie could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
A workday in Spring Prairie: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,064 residents head out to work, 37 work right here, and 157 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Spring Prairie on a workday afternoon, 43% 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.
From Spring Prairie, about 28 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spring Prairie workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 870 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.
11% of working residents work in Burlington
Where Spring Prairie clocks in
11% of workers
6% 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.
A place that makes things: 36% of Spring Prairie’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spring Prairie, 2013 → 2023: 78 → 194. 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 Spring Prairie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Spring Prairie, by distance
About 16% 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.
Most trips from Spring Prairie start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Spring Prairie is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Spring Prairie 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 958 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). 0.9% of Spring Prairie households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Spring Prairie’s commuters take a bus or train.
Spring Prairie is 401st of 5,148 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 35 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 399 | River Heights UT | 2,253 | $118K | 5.5% | 2.2% | 1% | A |
| 400 | Hartland CT | 1,928 | $113K | 4.7% | 2.4% | 6% | A |
| 401 | Spring Prairie WI | 2,109 | $108K | 2.9% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| 402 | Curtice OH | 1,535 | $104K | 3.8% | 0.0% | <1% | A |
| 403 | Marquette Heights IL | 2,485 | $76K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Spring Prairie, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns next door employ 11% of Spring Prairie
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Spring Prairie workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Prairie | – | A | D− | 28 min | $107,955 |
| Burlington | 11% | A− | B− | 22 min | $83,419 |
| Rochester | under 2% | A+ | C− | 25 min | $107,038 |
| Lafayette | under 2% | A | C+ | 25 min | $111,500 |
| East Troy | under 2% | A+ | C− | 27 min | $123,804 |
| Burlington | under 2% | A− | C | 25 min | $106,929 |
| Lyons | under 2% | B− | C− | 25 min | $83,919 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Burlington. Darker towns draw more of Spring Prairie’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 Spring Prairie: questions
What is the median household income in Spring Prairie?
$107,955 (±$17,984) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spring Prairie?
2.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spring Prairie?
28 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spring Prairie work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Burlington (11%, 6 mi), Elkhorn (6%, 9 mi), Madison (6%, 60 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Spring Prairie walkable?
Spring Prairie is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spring Prairie without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spring Prairie, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spring Prairie
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.