Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Tomahawk (1.5%) than in 90% of U.S. towns
Tomahawk grades C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in four work in Tomahawk itself; outside it, Bradley draws the most (8%, 6 miles). For 6% of workers, the job is at home (Wisconsin 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Tomahawk apart
Commutes from Tomahawk are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 Tomahawk earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tomahawk is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #320 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Tomahawk’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tomahawk could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Time on the road from Tomahawk: about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tomahawk workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,517 commuters (the 6% 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.
The distance from Tomahawk to work
About 32% 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.
A workday in Tomahawk: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,126 residents head out to work, 405 work right here, and 1,686 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,900 people are in Tomahawk on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.37 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.
Where Tomahawk goes to work
Where Tomahawk clocks in
7% 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.
Making and building: 34% of jobs based in Tomahawk
2,091 jobs are based in Tomahawk.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tomahawk, 2013 → 2023: 2,100 → 2,091. 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 Tomahawk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Tomahawk gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tomahawk is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #111 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Tomahawk 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 1,608 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). 7.0% of Tomahawk households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tomahawk’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,721st of 4,402: where Tomahawk ranks among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,719 | Leadville CO | 2,668 | $86K | 13.5% | 3.1% | 19% | C+ |
| 2,720 | Oglesby IL | 3,618 | $76K | 9.6% | 6.6% | 10% | C+ |
| 2,721 | Tomahawk WI | 3,387 | $60K | 12.5% | 1.5% | 26% | C+ |
| 2,722 | Damascus Township PA | 3,699 | $75K | 8.9% | 3.6% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,723 | Yountville CA | 3,198 | $80K | 14.7% | 5.6% | 10% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Tomahawk, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
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 Tomahawk: questions
What is the median household income in Tomahawk?
$60,223 (±$5,479) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tomahawk?
12.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tomahawk?
15 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tomahawk work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bradley (8%, 6 mi), Wausau (7%, 36 mi), Rhinelander (6%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tomahawk walkable?
Tomahawk is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tomahawk without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tomahawk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tomahawk
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.