Households in Sun Prairie earn more than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Only 2% stay in Sun Prairie for work; outside it, Madison is the main destination (43%, 13 miles). 2.0% of residents live below the poverty line (Wisconsin 10.6%). Sun Prairie grades A+ for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Sun Prairie: the gist
43% of Sun Prairie works in Madison
523 working residents, 43%, have their main job in Madison, 13 miles away. That’s 22 times as many as work in Sun Prairie itself. The commute map ↓
Sun Prairie empties out on a workday
About 1,500 people are in Sun Prairie on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than the 2,300 who live here: 1,200 head out to work and 410 come in. 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.
Why Sun Prairie gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sun Prairie is better than 98% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sun Prairie could be anywhere from A to A+.
Where Sun Prairie goes to work
Where Sun Prairie clocks in
43% of workers
2% 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.
A workday in Sun Prairie: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,200 residents head out to work, 23 work right here, and 412 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Sun Prairie on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.36 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.
69% of the jobs in Sun Prairie pay over $3,333 a month
435 jobs are based in Sun Prairie.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sun Prairie, 2013 → 2023: 480 → 435. 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 Sun Prairie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Sun Prairie, about 23 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sun Prairie workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 974 commuters (the 19% 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.
Miles to work from Sun Prairie
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 Sun Prairie, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sun Prairie is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Sun Prairie 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 1,196 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). <1% 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 40% 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). 1.3% of Sun Prairie households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sun Prairie’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sun Prairie next to U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100: 82nd of 5,328 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 35 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 81 | Lake Point UT | 2,947 | $137K | 2.0% | 1.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 82 | Sun Prairie WI | 2,291 | $127K | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 83 | Verona WI | 2,092 | $150K | 2.6% | 2.0% | <1% | A+ |
| 84 | Bull Run Mountain Estates VA | 1,827 | $250K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | 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 Sun Prairie, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Around Sun Prairie: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sun Prairie workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Prairie | – | A+ | D | 23 min | $127,321 |
| Cottage Grove | 2% | A+ | C+ | 25 min | $139,313 |
| Medina | under 2% | A | B+ | 28 min | $99,750 |
| Cottage Grove | under 2% | B+ | C− | 26 min | $87,218 |
| Bristol | 2% | A+ | B | 22 min | $141,010 |
| Burke | under 2% | B+ | A | 19 min | $104,025 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cottage Grove. Darker towns draw more of Sun Prairie’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 Sun Prairie: questions
What is the median household income in Sun Prairie?
$127,321 (±$19,889) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sun Prairie?
2.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sun Prairie?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sun Prairie work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (43%, 13 mi), Sun Prairie (14%, 4 mi), Middleton (2%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sun Prairie walkable?
Sun Prairie is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sun Prairie 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 Sun Prairie, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sun Prairie
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.