Fewer people are out of work in Stanley (0.9%) than in 95% of U.S. towns
Stanley grades B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Hardly any work in Stanley; the top destination outside it is Rice Lake (29%, 4 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 23 minutes, where Wisconsin has 22 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Stanley, in a few figures
Stanley and Rice Lake trade workers both ways
Rice Lake is the top workplace for Stanley residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Stanley come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Stanley is a place people come home to
There are 325 jobs based in Stanley, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Stanley has about 1,600 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Stanley makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Stanley are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Stanley residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 29%. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Stanley
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stanley is better than 57% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Stanley’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 26% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stanley could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Where people from Stanley work
Where Stanley clocks in
9% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Stanley
On a workday 1,214 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 314 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Stanley on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
0.27 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.
Stanley makes things: 38% of its jobs are in goods
325 jobs are based in Stanley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stanley, 2013 → 2023: 207 → 325. 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 Stanley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Stanley spends getting to work: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stanley workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,253 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.
How far Stanley goes to work
About 23% 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.
In Stanley, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stanley is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 5.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,376 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). 4.5% of Stanley households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stanley’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,973rd of 5,401: where Stanley ranks among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Sun Prairie WI | 2,291 | $127K | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,971 | Prairie Township OH | 3,104 | $68K | 13.5% | 0.0% | 9% | B |
| 1,972 | Hanover Township OH | 3,384 | $68K | 7.9% | 2.8% | 4% | B |
| 1,973 | Stanley WI | 2,492 | $68K | 8.4% | 0.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,974 | Rock WI | 2,988 | $71K | 21.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,975 | DeLisle MS | 1,906 | $72K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,401 | 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 Stanley, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
30% of Stanley works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stanley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanley | – | B | C+ | 23 min | $68,333 |
| Rice Lake | 29% | C | B | 13 min | $52,417 |
| Rice Lake | 1% | A− | B | 14 min | $87,635 |
| Barron | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Prairie Lake | under 2% | C+ | D | 25 min | $71,250 |
| Sumner | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Barron: the same community as the city of that name, graded once. Sumner: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Rice Lake. Darker towns draw more of Stanley’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 Stanley: questions
What is the median household income in Stanley?
$68,333 (±$13,820) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stanley?
8.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stanley?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stanley work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rice Lake (29%, 4 mi), Barron (9%, 6 mi), Eau Claire (6%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stanley walkable?
Stanley is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stanley 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 Stanley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stanley
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.