Lorine Niedecker Cottage · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Sumner works elsewhere
Employers in Sumner report 87 jobs; 415 of its residents have a job. Hardly any work in Sumner itself; outside it, Fort Atkinson draws the most (19%, 7 miles). A typical one-way commute from Sumner lasts 26 minutes (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Sumner in brief
Sumner and Fort Atkinson trade workers both ways
Fort Atkinson is the top workplace for Sumner residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Sumner come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Sumner is a place people come home to
There are 87 jobs based in Sumner, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sumner has about 500 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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; with 415 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The places Sumner commutes to
Where Sumner clocks in
19% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
Sumner by day and by night
On a workday 412 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 84 people come in from elsewhere.
About 500 people are in Sumner on a workday afternoon, 40% 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.
Goods, not services: 44% of the jobs in Sumner
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sumner, 2013 → 2023: 37 → 87. 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 Sumner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes each way for Sumner’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sumner workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 336 commuters (the 18% 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.
The distance from Sumner to work
About 18% 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.
The towns around Sumner
The biggest share goes to Koshkonong (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sumner workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sumner | – | — | — | 26 min | $86,429 |
| Koshkonong | 3% | A | C− | 19 min | $102,831 |
| Oakland | under 2% | B− | C | 26 min | $94,603 |
| Albion | under 2% | A | C+ | 25 min | $107,750 |
| Lake Koshkonong | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lake Koshkonong: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sumner’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 Sumner: questions
What is the median household income in Sumner?
$86,429 (±$21,418) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sumner?
7.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sumner?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sumner work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Atkinson (19%, 7 mi), Madison (9%, 27 mi), Janesville (7%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Sumner without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sumner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sumner
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.