With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Tainter works elsewhere
There are 191 jobs in Tainter, and 1,272 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Tainter is better than 68% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns (D−). Measured by household income, Tainter is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Tainter in brief
Tainter is a place people come home to
There are 191 jobs based in Tainter, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Tainter has about 1,600 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The quickest commute around
Tainter’s 23-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 28 to 42 minutes. Next door ↓
Tainter and Menomonie trade workers both ways
Menomonie is the top workplace for Tainter residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Tainter come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Inside Tainter’s Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Tainter’s grade up ($102,750, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tainter could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The daily flow of workers through Tainter
On a workday 1,243 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 162 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Tainter 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.
24% of working residents work in Menomonie
Where Tainter clocks in
Lines 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.
Goods, not services: 56% of the jobs in Tainter
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tainter, 2013 → 2023: 146 → 191. 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 Tainter’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Tainter: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tainter workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,152 commuters (the 13% 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.
Where in the region Tainter works
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.
Getting around Tainter: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,318 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). 0.2% of Tainter households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tainter’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Tainter is 1,295th of 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Sun Prairie WI | 2,291 | $127K | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 85 | Verona WI | 2,092 | $150K | 2.6% | 2.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,293 | Chapin SC | 1,945 | $80K | 7.5% | 2.6% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,294 | Baroda Township MI | 2,818 | $75K | 4.4% | 3.4% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,295 | Tainter WI | 2,690 | $103K | 7.2% | 3.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,296 | Greenbriar FL | 2,283 | $73K | 9.6% | 3.6% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,297 | Galena Township IN | 1,918 | $86K | 7.5% | 3.1% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Tainter, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Tainter and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tainter workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tainter | – | B+ | D− | 23 min | $102,750 |
| Colfax | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Sherman | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Otter Creek | under 2% | — | — | 42 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Colfax and Sherman: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Otter Creek: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tainter’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 Tainter: questions
What is the median household income in Tainter?
$102,750 (±$24,190) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tainter?
7.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tainter?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tainter work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Menomonie (24%, 7 mi), Eau Claire (14%, 20 mi), Colfax (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tainter walkable?
Tainter is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tainter 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 Tainter, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tainter
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.