White River has higher household incomes than 66% of U.S. towns
White River grades B for jobs and income and C for walkability. Poverty touches 3.3% of residents; Wisconsin has 10.6%. About one in ten stay in White River for work; outside it, Ashland is the main destination (38%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set White River apart
Income, poverty and work: White River’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, White River is better than 57% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds White River’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.8%) is left out: White River’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, White River could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Out of White River to work: where people go
Where White River clocks in
38% of workers
5% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of White River
On a workday 448 residents head out to work, 52 work right here, and 558 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in White River on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 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.
What White River’s employers do
610 jobs are based in White River.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in White River, 2013 → 2023: 673 → 610. 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 White River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from White River: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of White River workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 441 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.
Half of White River commutes less than 12 miles
About 28% 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.
For most of White River, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, White River is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 4.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 491 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). 0.6% of White River households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of White River’s commuters take a bus or train.
White River is 1,015th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,013 | Pleasant Township OH | 1,132 | $98K | 8.0% | 5.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,014 | Westfield Township OH | 1,280 | $68K | 4.4% | 0.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,015 | White River WI | 1,098 | $88K | 3.3% | 1.8% | 10% | B |
| 1,016 | Withee WI | 1,050 | $95K | 4.6% | 1.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,017 | Lake Dunlap TX | 1,411 | $79K | 13.7% | 0.0% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 White River, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Work in the towns next to White River
The biggest share goes to Gingles (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | White River workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White River | – | B | C | 20 min | $87,917 |
| Kelly | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Sanborn | under 2% | D | B− | 17 min | $53,125 |
| Gingles | 4% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Marengo | 1% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Ashland | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kelly, Gingles and Marengo: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Ashland: the same community as the city of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of White River’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 White River: questions
What is the median household income in White River?
$87,917 (±$11,880) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in White River?
3.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from White River?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in White River work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ashland (38%, 9 mi), Mellen (5%, 13 mi), Gingles (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is White River walkable?
White River is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around White River 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 White River, from the people who make the trip.
More of White River
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.