Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in West Salem top those of 74% of U.S. towns
8.6% of residents live below the poverty line, where Wisconsin as a whole has 10.6%. The two grades for West Salem are B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in seven work in West Salem; the top destination outside it is La Crosse (34%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: West Salem in brief
Inside West Salem’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, West Salem is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #220 of 362 in Wisconsin. Household income is its strongest input ($97,019, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, West Salem could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Where the trip to work from West Salem ends
Where West Salem clocks in
34% 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.
Who leaves West Salem for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,132 residents head out to work, 359 work right here, and 2,659 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,800 people are in West Salem on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The 3,018 jobs based in West Salem
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Salem, 2014 → 2024: 2,733 → 3,018. 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 West Salem’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from West Salem: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Salem workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,265 commuters (the 13% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from West Salem
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in West Salem walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Salem is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns, #164 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 2,595 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). 4.9% of West Salem households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of West Salem’s commuters take a bus or train.
West Salem next to U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,100: 1,171st of 3,582 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,169 | Breese IL | 4,602 | $85K | 4.2% | 3.8% | 20% | B+ |
| 1,170 | Flemington NJ | 4,856 | $70K | 11.8% | 1.2% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,171 | West Salem WI | 5,288 | $97K | 8.6% | 3.3% | 14% | B+ |
| 1,172 | Walkertown NC | 6,120 | $83K | 10.8% | 2.5% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,173 | King City OR | 5,044 | $64K | 8.7% | 2.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,582 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 West Salem, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
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 West Salem: questions
What is the median household income in West Salem?
$97,019 (±$19,476) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Salem?
8.6%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Salem?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Salem work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Crosse (34%, 8 mi), Onalaska (13%, 6 mi), Sparta (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is West Salem walkable?
West Salem is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Salem without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Salem, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Salem
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.