Photo: Corey Coyle · CC BY 3.0For about two in five of its working residents, Stoughton is a commute to Madison
About one in seven work in Stoughton; the top destination outside it is Madison (40%, 15 miles). Jobs and income earn Stoughton A−; getting around on foot earns it A−. Working residents average 22 minutes each way, about the same as across Wisconsin.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Stoughton in brief
The figures behind Stoughton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stoughton is better than 80% of U.S. towns, #165 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment is its strongest input (1.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($79,551, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stoughton could be anywhere from B to A.
Out of Stoughton to work: where people go
Where Stoughton clocks in
40% of workers
4% of workers
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.
Stoughton by day and by night
On a workday 5,772 residents head out to work, 950 work right here, and 4,157 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Stoughton on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).
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 kinds of work in Stoughton
5,107 jobs are based in Stoughton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stoughton, 2013 → 2023: 5,104 → 5,107. 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 Stoughton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Stoughton, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stoughton workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,638 commuters (the 17% 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 it is to work from Stoughton
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Stoughton
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stoughton is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #57 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Stoughton 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 6,833 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 8.4% of Stoughton households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Stoughton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000, Stoughton ranks 766th of 2,526 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Greenville WI | 13,388 | $118K | 1.7% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Whitefish Bay WI | 14,489 | $157K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Verona WI | 16,821 | $120K | 1.4% | 1.6% | 21% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 764 | Great Neck NY | 11,141 | $138K | 6.6% | 6.7% | 6% | A− |
| 765 | Lemon Township OH | 17,447 | $102K | 7.9% | 3.5% | 8% | A− |
| 766 | Stoughton WI | 13,256 | $80K | 7.1% | 1.9% | 14% | A− |
| 767 | Woodbury CT | 10,005 | $131K | 7.2% | 4.1% | 10% | A− |
| 768 | Perry Township IN | 9,376 | $87K | 8.4% | 0.8% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Stoughton, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Stoughton and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stoughton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stoughton | – | A− | A− | 22 min | $79,551 |
| Dunkirk | under 2% | A− | C+ | 26 min | $102,604 |
| Pleasant Springs | under 2% | A+ | B | 23 min | $119,273 |
| Rutland | under 2% | A | D | 23 min | $105,000 |
| Dunn | under 2% | A+ | D | 22 min | $127,734 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Stoughton’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 Stoughton: questions
What is the median household income in Stoughton?
$79,551 (±$11,170) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stoughton?
7.1%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stoughton?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stoughton work?
14% work in town.
Is Stoughton walkable?
Stoughton is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stoughton without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stoughton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stoughton
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.