Washington has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Jobs and income earn Washington C−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Washington has 58 jobs, and 410 of its residents work somewhere. For 5% of workers, the job is at home (Wisconsin 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Washington
Washington is a place people come home to
There are 58 jobs based in Washington, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Washington has about 680 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Washington workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 410 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Washington
On income, poverty and job access, Washington is better than 23% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Washington’s grade up ($81,071, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 14% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (1.1%) is left out: Washington’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Washington could be anywhere from D to B−.
Who leaves Washington for work, and who comes in
On a workday 410 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 58 people come in from elsewhere.
About 680 people are in Washington on a workday afternoon, 34% 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 2024, primary jobs.
About 27 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Washington workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 407 commuters (the 5% 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.
13% of working residents work in Reedsburg
Where Washington clocks in
13% of workers
11% 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.
Goods jobs make up 38% of work in Washington
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Washington, 2014 → 2024: 111 → 58. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Washington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Washington
About 22% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Washington is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Washington is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 3.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 430 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). 25.6% of Washington households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Washington’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,999th of 3,133: where Washington ranks among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Kaukauna WI | 1,295 | $122K | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,997 | Assumption IL | 1,112 | $58K | 11.7% | 9.2% | 11% | C− |
| 1,998 | Elroy WI | 1,255 | $58K | 10.1% | 0.7% | 15% | C− |
| 1,999 | Washington WI | 1,028 | $81K | 17.0% | 1.1% | 0% | C− |
| 2,000 | Truman MN | 1,059 | $61K | 10.9% | 1.4% | 8% | C− |
| 2,001 | Jackson Township OH | 1,062 | $64K | 9.0% | 2.3% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Washington, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Around Washington: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Washington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | – | C− | B− | 27 min | $81,071 |
| Westfield | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Ironton | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Lime Ridge | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Bear Creek | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Willow | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Westfield: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Ironton, Lime Ridge, Bear Creek and Willow: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Washington’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 2024, 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 Washington: questions
What is the median household income in Washington?
$81,071 (±$19,784) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Washington?
17.0%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Washington?
27 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Washington work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Reedsburg (13%, 10 mi), Madison (11%, 42 mi), Plain (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Washington walkable?
Washington is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Washington without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 26% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Washington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Washington
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.