Masonic Temple Building · Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Viroqua (2.9%) is lower than in 71% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 18 minutes each way (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). For jobs and income Viroqua is better than 51% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (A). About one in three work in Viroqua itself; outside it, La Crosse draws the most (8%, 25 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Viroqua and work: the main findings
Viroqua is where the jobs are
Viroqua has 3,146 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Viroqua’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Viroqua is La Crosse, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (150) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
Inside Viroqua’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Viroqua’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 30% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Viroqua could be anywhere from C to B+.
A workday in Viroqua: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,159 residents head out to work, 683 work right here, and 2,463 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,700 people are in Viroqua on a workday afternoon, 29% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 far Viroqua goes to work
About 25% 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.
Where Viroqua’s workers come from
Where Viroqua clocks in
8% 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.
What work there is in Viroqua: 3,146 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Viroqua, 2013 → 2023: 3,282 → 3,146. 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 Viroqua’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Viroqua workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,075 commuters (the 14% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Viroqua
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 8.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,413 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). 11.1% of Viroqua households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Viroqua’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Viroqua is 2,074th among 4,000 U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,072 | Suncrest WA | 5,345 | $101K | 5.0% | 4.7% | 4% | B− |
| 2,073 | Neptune City NJ | 4,591 | $89K | 16.9% | 5.8% | 4% | B− |
| 2,074 | Viroqua WI | 4,435 | $67K | 7.7% | 2.9% | 37% | B− |
| 2,075 | Chesterfield NH | 3,684 | $102K | 8.6% | 5.3% | 5% | B− |
| 2,076 | Scott City MO | 4,593 | $63K | 11.2% | 2.0% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | 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 Viroqua, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns around Viroqua
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Viroqua’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 Viroqua: questions
What is the median household income in Viroqua?
$67,438 (±$9,998) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Viroqua?
7.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Viroqua?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Viroqua work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Crosse (8%, 25 mi), Westby (4%, 6 mi), Cashton (2%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Viroqua walkable?
Viroqua is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Viroqua without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Viroqua, from the people who make the trip.
More of Viroqua
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.