Dr. Fisk Holbrook Day House · Photo: Freekee at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Wauwatosa has 2.3 jobs per working resident, and 54,995 people come in to work
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 10.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 12.9 in Milwaukee. 59,363 jobs are based in Wauwatosa for 25,329 working residents. Wauwatosa grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Wauwatosa apart
Wauwatosa is where the jobs are
Wauwatosa has 59,363 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 83,000 people are in town, 70% more than the 49,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Wauwatosa and Milwaukee trade workers both ways
Milwaukee is the top workplace for Wauwatosa residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Wauwatosa come from (28% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Wauwatosa residents work close to home
73% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. Only 8% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
A lot of Wauwatosa works from home
22% of Wauwatosa workers work from home, against 13% across Wisconsin. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Wauwatosa’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wauwatosa is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #62 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (5.8%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wauwatosa could be anywhere from A to A+.
The daily flow of workers through Wauwatosa
On a workday 20,961 residents head out to work and 4,368 work right here.
About 83,000 people are in Wauwatosa on a workday afternoon, 70% more 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.
Where Wauwatosa’s workforce comes from
Where Wauwatosa clocks in
31% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
How far it is to work from Wauwatosa
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 daily trip from Wauwatosa: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wauwatosa workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 20,325 commuters (the 22% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Wauwatosa
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wauwatosa, 2014 → 2024: 54,738 → 59,363. 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 Wauwatosa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Wauwatosa
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wauwatosa is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #11 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 26,193 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 95% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 41% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 6.7% of Wauwatosa households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wauwatosa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wauwatosa is 60th of 927 U.S. towns of 34,000 to 66,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Brookfield WI | 41,448 | $130K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | New Berlin WI | 39,953 | $101K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Oak Creek WI | 38,296 | $97K | 4.9% | 1.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| 59 | Lake Oswego OR | 39,722 | $142K | 3.4% | 3.4% | 12% | A |
| 60 | Wauwatosa WI | 48,649 | $101K | 5.8% | 2.1% | 17% | A |
| 61 | Bloomfield Township MI | 43,904 | $163K | 4.8% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| 62 | Deerfield Township OH | 43,979 | $125K | 4.9% | 2.7% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 927 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Wauwatosa, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Work next door: 37% of Wauwatosa’s workers
The biggest share goes to Milwaukee (31%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wauwatosa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wauwatosa | – | A | A | 20 min | $101,138 |
| Milwaukee | 31% | C | A+ | 22 min | $54,234 |
| Brookfield | 6% | A+ | B | 21 min | $129,548 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wauwatosa’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 Wauwatosa: questions
What is the median household income in Wauwatosa?
$101,138 (±$6,872) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wauwatosa?
5.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wauwatosa?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wauwatosa work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milwaukee (31%, 4 mi), Brookfield (6%, 4 mi), Menomonee Falls (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Wauwatosa walkable?
Wauwatosa is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wauwatosa without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 41% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wauwatosa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wauwatosa
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.