St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0Springfield’s household incomes are higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
4.1% of residents live below the poverty line; Wisconsin has 10.6%. Jobs and income earn Springfield A+; getting around on foot earns it C. Working from home is the commute for 27% of workers (Wisconsin 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Springfield
Jobs in Springfield have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Springfield went from 378 in 2013 to 873 in 2023, +131%. The jobs ↓
Nearly half of Springfield works in Madison
705 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Madison, 7.8 miles away. That’s 47 times as many as work in Springfield itself. The commute map ↓
Springfield makes and builds things
58% of the jobs based in Springfield are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Springfield residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Springfield
27% of Springfield workers work from home, against 13% across Wisconsin. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Springfield pay over $40,000 a year
73% of the jobs based in Springfield pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Springfield
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Springfield is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #38 of 362 in Wisconsin. Household income is its strongest input ($135,216, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Springfield could be anywhere from A to A+.
Springfield makes things: 58% of its jobs are in goods
873 jobs are based in Springfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Springfield, 2013 → 2023: 378 → 873. 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 Springfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
47% of working residents work in Madison
Where Springfield clocks in
47% of workers
14% 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.
From Springfield, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Springfield workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,100 commuters (the 27% 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 a workday changes Springfield
On a workday 1,474 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 860 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Springfield on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.59 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The distance from Springfield to work
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.
Springfield is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Springfield is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns, #260 of 362 in Wisconsin. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 5.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,511 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 7% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.4% of Springfield households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Springfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Springfield is 143rd among 4,703 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Center WI | 3,706 | $115K | 1.6% | 0.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 141 | Commercial Point OH | 3,271 | $108K | 4.1% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 142 | Spring Lake Township MN | 3,498 | $147K | 5.3% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| 143 | Springfield WI | 2,800 | $135K | 4.1% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 144 | Lake Mills WI | 2,206 | $119K | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 145 | Merton WI | 3,676 | $174K | 6.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Springfield, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
14% of Springfield works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Springfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield | – | A+ | C | 19 min | $135,216 |
| Middleton | 14% | A− | A | 19 min | $89,524 |
| Berry | under 1% | A− | C+ | 23 min | $83,750 |
| Middleton | under 1% | A+ | C | 20 min | $203,646 |
| Dane | under 1% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Westport | under 1% | A | C | 22 min | $83,750 |
| Roxbury | under 1% | A+ | D | 28 min | $132,188 |
Same-state neighbors only. Dane: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Middleton. Darker towns draw more of Springfield’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 Springfield: questions
What is the median household income in Springfield?
$135,216 (±$19,814) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Springfield?
4.1%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Springfield?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Springfield work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (47%, 8 mi), Middleton (14%, 4 mi), Waunakee (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Springfield walkable?
Springfield is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Springfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Springfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Springfield
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.