Photo: self · CC BY-SA 2.5Fewer people are out of work in Waterloo (0.6%) than in 97% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 32 minutes getting to work on average; the Wisconsin average is 22, the U.S. 26. Waterloo grades B+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in ten work in Waterloo itself; outside it, Madison draws the most (9%, 23 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Waterloo at work: what stands out
Waterloo makes and builds things
66% of the jobs based in Waterloo are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Waterloo residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 34%. The jobs ↓
Waterloo workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Waterloo’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Waterloo is Madison, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (151) 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Waterloo
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waterloo is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #198 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Waterloo’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (13.7%, U.S. 12.5%). 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, Waterloo could be anywhere from B to A.
Waterloo works in goods: 66% of its jobs
2,036 jobs are based in Waterloo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterloo, 2013 → 2023: 1,694 → 2,036. 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 Waterloo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes to work from Waterloo
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterloo workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,715 commuters (the 18% 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.
How far Waterloo goes to work
About 18% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Waterloo
On a workday 1,413 residents head out to work, 179 work right here, and 1,857 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,000 people are in Waterloo on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 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 people from Waterloo work
Where Waterloo clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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.
In Waterloo, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waterloo is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #231 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,080 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). 4.5% of Waterloo households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waterloo’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Waterloo is 1,120th among 4,474 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,118 | Florida NY | 2,852 | $123K | 6.8% | 4.6% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,119 | Zelienople PA | 3,752 | $68K | 6.3% | 2.5% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,120 | Waterloo WI | 3,600 | $88K | 13.7% | 0.6% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,121 | Milton Township OH | 3,517 | $83K | 9.7% | 2.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,122 | Beverly NJ | 2,564 | $89K | 15.7% | 2.5% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | 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 Waterloo, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Waterloo and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Waterloo’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 Waterloo: questions
What is the median household income in Waterloo?
$87,776 (±$19,309) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterloo?
13.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterloo?
32 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waterloo work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (9%, 23 mi), Watertown (8%, 13 mi), Lake Mills (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waterloo walkable?
Waterloo is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waterloo without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waterloo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterloo
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.