Most of Taft commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Commuters spend 31 minutes getting to work on average; the Wisconsin average is 22, the U.S. 26. Employers in Taft report 39 jobs for 124 working residents. Only 2% work in Taft itself; outside it, Gilman draws the most (19%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Taft by day and by night
On a workday 122 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 37 people come in from elsewhere.
About 230 people are in Taft on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
The towns that employ Taft’s residents
Where Taft clocks in
19% 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.
Making and building: 92% of jobs based in Taft
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Taft, 2013 → 2023: 9 → 39. 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 Taft’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Taft: about 31 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Taft workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 102 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.
Half of Taft commutes less than 21 miles
About 23% 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 Taft
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Taft workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taft | – | — | — | 31 min | $88,500 |
| Roosevelt | under 2% | — | — | 42 min | — |
| Colburn | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Thorp | under 2% | — | — | 15 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Roosevelt: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Colburn: not graded. Thorp: the same community as the city of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Taft’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 Taft: questions
What is the median household income in Taft?
$88,500 (±$16,257) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Taft?
5.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Taft?
31 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Taft work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gilman (19%, 6 mi), Thorp (11%, 10 mi), Medford (8%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Taft without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Taft, from the people who make the trip.
More of Taft
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.