With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Trenton works elsewhere
4% of workers work from home (Wisconsin 13%). Employers in Trenton report 254 jobs, against 598 working residents. For jobs and income Trenton is better than 84% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Trenton apart
Trenton and Beaver Dam trade workers both ways
Beaver Dam is the top workplace for Trenton residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Trenton come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Trenton workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 13% across Wisconsin. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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 598 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Trenton’s grade explained
The poverty rate holds Trenton’s grade up (1.1%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (0.9%) is left out: Trenton’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, Trenton could be anywhere from A− to A.
23% of working residents work in Beaver Dam
Where Trenton clocks in
23% of workers
7% of workers
4% 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.
Trenton’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Trenton workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 644 commuters (the 4% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Trenton
On a workday 595 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 251 people come in from elsewhere.
About 870 people are in Trenton on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 44% of the jobs in Trenton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Trenton, 2013 → 2023: 168 → 254. 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 Trenton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Trenton
About 16% 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 Trenton walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 3.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 673 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). 0.0% of Trenton households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Trenton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600, Trenton comes 317th 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 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 315 | Grandview OH | 1,382 | $105K | 7.5% | 10.3% | 0% | A− |
| 316 | Maple Park IL | 1,523 | $107K | 7.0% | 4.0% | <1% | A− |
| 317 | Trenton WI | 1,212 | $99K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A− |
| 318 | Lake St. Croix Beach MN | 1,005 | $102K | 8.8% | 2.1% | 1% | A− |
| 319 | Milan Township MI | 1,540 | $96K | 6.0% | 4.1% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 Trenton, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Bordering towns draw 27% of Trenton’s workers
The biggest share goes to Beaver Dam (23%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Trenton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trenton | – | A− | C+ | 24 min | $99,074 |
| Beaver Dam | 23% | B− | A− | 25 min | $66,673 |
| Beaver Dam | 4% | B+ | B | 20 min | $82,163 |
| Fox Lake | under 2% | A− | D | 25 min | $92,639 |
| Chester | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Burnett | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Alto | under 2% | A | C | 20 min | $106,154 |
| Westford | under 2% | B | C | 23 min | $92,813 |
| Waupun | under 2% | A | C− | 20 min | $112,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Chester and Burnett: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Trenton’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 Trenton: questions
What is the median household income in Trenton?
$99,074 (±$3,778) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Trenton?
1.1%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Trenton?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Trenton work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beaver Dam (23%, 7 mi), Madison (7%, 45 mi), Beaver Dam (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Trenton walkable?
Trenton is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 3.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Trenton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Trenton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Trenton
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.