Photo: RRGreenough · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Tomah earn more than those in 76% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Tomah are B for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Poverty touches 6.1% of residents, against 10.6% across Wisconsin. Only 3% stay in Tomah for work; outside it, Tomah is the main destination (25%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Tomah
Tomah and Tomah trade workers both ways
Tomah is the top workplace for Tomah residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Tomah come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Tomah makes and builds things
56% of the jobs based in Tomah are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Tomah residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 30%. The jobs ↓
Tomah has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Tomah went from 317 in 2013 to 561 in 2023, +77%. The jobs ↓
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 620 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Tomah
On income, poverty and job access, Tomah is better than 63% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Tomah’s grade up ($98,345, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 26% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (0.5%) is left out: Tomah’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, Tomah could be anywhere from B− to B+.
The towns that employ Tomah’s residents
Where Tomah clocks in
25% of workers
6% 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.
56% of the jobs in Tomah make or build things
561 jobs are based in Tomah.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tomah, 2013 → 2023: 317 → 561. 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 Tomah’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Tomah
On a workday 603 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 544 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 (0.90 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.
How long Tomah spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tomah workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 576 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.
How far Tomah goes to work
About 27% 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.
Few in Tomah walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tomah is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Tomah 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 632 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). 5.4% of Tomah households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Tomah’s commuters take a bus or train.
Tomah is 1,497th of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,495 | Wilmington Township PA | 1,416 | $85K | 8.6% | 1.6% | 1% | B |
| 1,496 | Arena WI | 1,496 | $97K | 8.1% | 1.8% | 1% | B |
| 1,497 | Tomah WI | 1,464 | $98K | 6.1% | 0.5% | 3% | B |
| 1,498 | Piney Point MD | 1,274 | $129K | 7.3% | 5.2% | 2% | B |
| 1,499 | Bloomfield NY | 1,326 | $80K | 8.8% | 4.4% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Tomah, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door to Tomah
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tomah workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomah | – | B | C− | 18 min | $98,345 |
| Adrian | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Oakdale | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Wilton | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| La Grange | under 2% | B | C− | 16 min | $98,958 |
Same-state neighbors only. Adrian and Oakdale: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Wilton: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tomah’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 Tomah: questions
What is the median household income in Tomah?
$98,345 (±$8,884) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tomah?
6.1%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tomah?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tomah work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tomah (25%, 3 mi), Sparta (6%, 16 mi), La Crosse (6%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tomah walkable?
Tomah is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tomah without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tomah, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tomah
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.