Photo: Awkwafaba · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Summit top those of 94% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 5.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin. Jobs and income earn Summit A+; getting around on foot earns it C. Only 3% work in Summit itself; outside it, Milwaukee draws the most (10%, 26 miles).
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 Summit
Summit’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Summit is Milwaukee, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (227) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Nearly all the work in Summit is services
87% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 6% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
33% of the jobs based in Summit are held by workers 29 or younger, against 22% of Summit’s own working residents. 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 Summit
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Summit is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #22 of 362 in Wisconsin. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Summit’s grade. 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, Summit could be anywhere from A to A+.
How far it is to work from Summit
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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Summit
3,265 jobs are based in Summit.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Summit, 2013 → 2023: 2,577 → 3,265. 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 Summit’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Summit for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,176 residents head out to work, 69 work right here, and 3,196 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Summit on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 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 towns that employ Summit’s residents
Where Summit clocks in
10% of workers
10% of workers
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.
Time on the road from Summit: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Summit workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,072 commuters (the 15% 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.
Most trips from Summit start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Summit is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #284 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Summit 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 2,432 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 1.1% of Summit households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Summit’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Summit is 119th among 3,651 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Parker TX | 6,462 | $229K | 5.4% | 2.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 118 | Argyle TX | 6,372 | $181K | 1.2% | 3.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 119 | Summit WI | 5,323 | $141K | 5.0% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 120 | Radnor Township IL | 5,177 | $179K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 6% | A+ |
| 121 | Livonia Township MN | 6,436 | $137K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Summit, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
12% of Summit works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Oconomowoc (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Summit workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summit | – | A+ | C | 26 min | $140,682 |
| Dousman | under 4% | A | B | 27 min | $96,513 |
| Oconomowoc | 9% | A | B | 25 min | $106,425 |
| Delafield | 3% | A | B− | 25 min | $94,806 |
| Oconomowoc Lake | under 4% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Ottawa | under 4% | A+ | D | 27 min | $153,018 |
| Concord | under 4% | A+ | D | 32 min | $107,969 |
Same-state neighbors only. Oconomowoc Lake: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Summit’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 Summit: questions
What is the median household income in Summit?
$140,682 (±$29,729) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Summit?
5.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Summit?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Summit work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (10%, 26 mi), Waukesha (10%, 12 mi), Oconomowoc (9%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Summit walkable?
Summit is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Summit 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 Summit, from the people who make the trip.
More of Summit
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.