Household incomes in Wales top those of 83% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 4.3% of residents, next to 10.6% across Wisconsin. For jobs and income Wales is better than 86% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (B−). Only 3% stay in Wales for work; outside it, Waukesha is the main destination (13%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wales at work: what stands out
Wales trades workers with the towns around it
Wales has about as many jobs (1,391) as working residents (1,332), but they are mostly different people: 1,292 residents leave for work each day while 1,351 people come in. Only 3% of the jobs in Wales are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Wales has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Wales went from 926 in 2013 to 1,391 in 2023, +50%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Wales’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
The poverty rate holds Wales’ grade up; unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wales could be anywhere from B to A+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Wales
On a workday 1,292 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 1,351 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 (1.04 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.
Jobs in Wales: what the 1,391 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wales, 2013 → 2023: 926 → 1,391. 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 Wales’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Wales commutes to
Where Wales clocks in
13% of workers
10% of workers
7% 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.
Wales’ commute takes 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 Wales workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,174 commuters (the 19% 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.
Wales’ commute, mile by mile
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.
The commute in Wales is mostly behind the wheel
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,453 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.2% of Wales households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wales’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Wales is 551st of 4,882 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Center WI | 3,706 | $115K | 1.6% | 0.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 549 | West Branch IA | 2,956 | $92K | 6.4% | 0.8% | 7% | A |
| 550 | Oak Ridge North TX | 2,991 | $109K | 5.9% | 4.3% | 2% | A |
| 551 | Wales WI | 2,885 | $109K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 3% | A |
| 552 | Harbor Bluffs FL | 3,076 | $141K | 4.2% | 5.2% | 1% | A |
| 553 | Green Park MO | 2,670 | $79K | 7.9% | 1.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | 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 Wales, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Wales and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Wales’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 Wales: questions
What is the median household income in Wales?
$109,024 (±$9,813) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wales?
4.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wales?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wales work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waukesha (13%, 6 mi), Milwaukee (10%, 21 mi), Pewaukee (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wales walkable?
Wales is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wales without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wales, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wales
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.