Sylvester has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
Sylvester has 147 jobs for 489 working residents. Jobs and income earn Sylvester A−; getting around on foot earns it D. Household incomes here are higher than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Sylvester at work: what stands out
Sylvester and Monroe trade workers both ways
Monroe is the top workplace for Sylvester residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Sylvester come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Sylvester is a place people come home to
There are 147 jobs based in Sylvester, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sylvester has about 670 people in it, 34% 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 489 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Sylvester’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Sylvester is better than 81% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Sylvester’s grade up (2.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (3.3%) is left out: Sylvester’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Sylvester could be anywhere from B+ to A.
27% of working residents work in Monroe
Where Sylvester clocks in
27% of workers
18% of workers
6% 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.
Who commutes out of Sylvester, and who commutes in
On a workday 487 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 145 people come in from elsewhere.
About 670 people are in Sylvester on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
In Sylvester, 65% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sylvester, 2013 → 2023: 99 → 147. 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 Sylvester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Sylvester spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sylvester workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 497 commuters (the 12% 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.
Sylvester’s commute, mile by mile
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.
For most of Sylvester, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sylvester is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 3.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 562 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.3% of Sylvester households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sylvester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sylvester places 261st of 3,133 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Kaukauna WI | 1,295 | $122K | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 259 | Ripley Township OH | 1,071 | $113K | 0.5% | 11.5% | 2% | A− |
| 260 | Janesville IA | 1,052 | $104K | 5.5% | 2.9% | 4% | A− |
| 261 | Sylvester WI | 1,007 | $111K | 2.5% | 3.3% | <1% | A− |
| 262 | Kaanapali HI | 1,170 | $129K | 4.5% | 17.6% | 27% | A− |
| 263 | Stem NC | 1,023 | $96K | 3.0% | 1.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Sylvester, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Sylvester and its neighbors: 29% work next door
The biggest share goes to Monroe (27%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sylvester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvester | – | A− | D | 21 min | $111,375 |
| Monroe | 27% | B− | B+ | 18 min | $69,334 |
| Decatur | under 2% | A− | C | 29 min | $101,167 |
| Jefferson | under 2% | C | C+ | 21 min | $70,368 |
| Mount Pleasant | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Monroe | 1% | A− | B− | 21 min | $106,563 |
| Clarno | 1% | C+ | C+ | 23 min | $84,375 |
Same-state neighbors only. Mount Pleasant: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sylvester’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 Sylvester: questions
What is the median household income in Sylvester?
$111,375 (±$13,624) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sylvester?
2.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sylvester?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sylvester work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Monroe (27%, 5 mi), Madison (18%, 32 mi), Brodhead (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sylvester walkable?
Sylvester is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sylvester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sylvester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sylvester
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.