Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Wausau has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
252 jobs are based in Wausau for 1,101 working residents. Wausau grades B− for jobs and income and C for walkability. Only 4% work in Wausau itself; outside it, Wausau draws the most (41%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Wausau, in brief
Wausau and Wausau trade workers both ways
Wausau is the top workplace for Wausau residents (41%) and also where the most people who work in Wausau come from (24% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Wausau’s working residents have a job less than 7 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 24 minutes, longer than the Wisconsin average of 22. Time on the road ↓
Wausau is a place people come home to
There are 252 jobs based in Wausau, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Wausau has about 1,500 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Wausau residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Wausau than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Wausau fell from 366 in 2014 to 252 in 2024, −31%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Wausau
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wausau is better than 52% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Wausau’s grade up (2.9%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wausau could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Where Wausau goes to work
Where Wausau clocks in
41% 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.
Commuting from Wausau: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wausau workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 963 commuters (the 10% 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.
In and out of Wausau on a workday
On a workday 1,062 residents head out to work, 39 work right here, and 213 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Wausau on a workday afternoon, 36% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Wausau
About 19% 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.
Wausau makes things: 44% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wausau, 2014 → 2024: 366 → 252. 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 Wausau’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Wausau commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wausau is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Wausau near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,065 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). 0.1% of Wausau households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wausau’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wausau is 2,273rd of 5,552 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 39 | North Prairie WI | 2,193 | $153K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Vandenbroek WI | 1,701 | $129K | 1.6% | 5.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,271 | Jacksonville OR | 2,972 | $90K | 9.2% | 5.3% | 8% | B− |
| 2,272 | Pine Grove Township PA | 2,483 | $96K | 4.6% | 6.8% | 3% | B− |
| 2,273 | Wausau WI | 2,353 | $76K | 14.5% | 2.9% | 4% | B− |
| 2,274 | Elk Rapids MI | 1,610 | $71K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 16% | B− |
| 2,275 | Little Cypress TX | 1,963 | $91K | 13.4% | 0.7% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,552 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Wausau, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Wausau and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wausau workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wausau | – | B− | C | 24 min | $75,750 |
| Texas | under 2% | B+ | C− | 21 min | $86,875 |
| Easton | under 2% | B+ | D | 24 min | $104,643 |
| Weston | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Weston: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wausau’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 Wausau: questions
What is the median household income in Wausau?
$75,750 (±$18,840) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wausau?
14.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wausau?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wausau work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wausau (41%, 5 mi), Weston (8%, 7 mi), Schofield (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Wausau walkable?
Wausau is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wausau without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wausau, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wausau
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.