Photo: Nfarmakes · CC BY-SA 4.0Superior’s household incomes are lower than in 67% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 12.9 in Milwaukee. 13.3% of residents are in poverty, where Wisconsin as a whole has 10.6%. For jobs and income Superior is better than 51% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (A+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Superior
A lot of Superior workers cross into Minnesota
33% of Superior workers work outside Wisconsin, most of them in Minnesota, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Many of the people who work in Superior live in another state
Duluth, MN (14%), Hermantown, MN (2%) and Cloquet, MN (1%) are among the top places Superior’s workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 17% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
Superior and Duluth trade workers both ways
Duluth is the top workplace for Superior residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Superior come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Superior are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker. Time on the road ↓
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 Superior
Job access by car holds Superior’s grade up (ahead of 69% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($64,216, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Superior could be anywhere from C+ to B.
28% of working residents work in Duluth
Where Superior clocks in
28% 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.
Getting to work from Superior takes about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Superior workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,605 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.
In and out of Superior on a workday
On a workday 7,151 residents head out to work, 4,899 work right here, and 8,574 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.12 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.
What the 13,473 jobs in Superior are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Superior, 2013 → 2023: 12,773 → 13,473. 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 Superior’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Superior to work
About 22% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Superior
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,800 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 94% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 66% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 11.4% of Superior households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Superior’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Superior is 1,107th of 1,645 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 36,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Muskego WI | 25,602 | $112K | 3.0% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Mequon WI | 25,120 | $144K | 4.2% | 2.6% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 159 | Germantown WI | 21,050 | $100K | 4.9% | 2.1% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,105 | Melrose Park IL | 23,936 | $66K | 12.3% | 5.7% | 10% | B− |
| 1,106 | Washougal WA | 18,028 | $106K | 11.2% | 7.7% | 9% | B− |
| 1,107 | Superior WI | 26,397 | $64K | 13.3% | 3.2% | 41% | B− |
| 1,108 | Saugerties NY | 19,393 | $78K | 9.8% | 3.6% | 23% | B− |
| 1,109 | Glassboro NJ | 24,483 | $87K | 13.4% | 7.4% | 8% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,645 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Superior, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Bordering towns draw 28% of Superior’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Duluth. Darker towns draw more of Superior’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 Superior: questions
What is the median household income in Superior?
$64,216 (±$6,466) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Superior?
13.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Superior?
16 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Superior work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Duluth (28%, 6 mi), Hermantown (2%, 11 mi), Cloquet (2%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Superior walkable?
Superior is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Superior without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 66% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Superior, from the people who make the trip.
More of Superior
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.