Jobs, income and commuting in Whiting, WI
Only 1% work in Whiting; the top destination outside it is Stevens Point (35%, 2 miles). The two grades for Whiting are B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Commuters spend 14 minutes getting to work on average; the Wisconsin average is 22, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Whiting, in a few figures
Much of Whiting works one town over
45% of working residents work in a town that borders Whiting: Stevens Point (35%) and Plover (10%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Whiting are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker. Time on the road ↓
Whiting makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Whiting are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Whiting residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. The jobs ↓
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; with 739 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Whiting gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Whiting is better than 62% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Whiting’s grade up (6.5%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($73,063, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (2.6%) is left out: Whiting’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, Whiting could be anywhere from B− to B+.
From Whiting, about 14 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Whiting workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 564 commuters (the 16% 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.
A place that makes things: 38% of Whiting’s jobs are in goods
606 jobs are based in Whiting.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Whiting, 2013 → 2023: 783 → 606. 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 Whiting’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Whiting by day
On a workday 729 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 596 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 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 Whiting’s working residents head each day
Where Whiting clocks in
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.
Miles to work from Whiting
About 29% 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.
Whiting is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Whiting is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% 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 672 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). 11.3% of Whiting households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Whiting’s commuters take a bus or train.
Whiting places 1,428th of 5,381 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,426 | Oologah OK | 1,358 | $80K | 9.4% | 7.6% | 5% | B |
| 1,427 | Elk Point SD | 2,080 | $90K | 8.5% | 3.0% | 22% | B |
| 1,428 | Whiting WI | 1,649 | $73K | 6.5% | 2.6% | 1% | B |
| 1,429 | Fall Creek WI | 1,390 | $87K | 7.3% | 3.5% | 8% | B |
| 1,430 | Fairfield VT | 2,031 | $87K | 5.1% | 2.4% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Whiting, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Bordering towns draw 45% of Whiting’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Whiting workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiting | – | B | B+ | 14 min | $73,063 |
| Linwood | under 2% | B+ | D | 20 min | $81,875 |
| Stevens Point | 35% | C | A | 17 min | $58,031 |
| Plover | 10% | B | C+ | 18 min | $88,042 |
| Plover | under 2% | B+ | C+ | 16 min | $90,481 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Stevens Point. Darker towns draw more of Whiting’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 Whiting: questions
What is the median household income in Whiting?
$73,063 (±$3,897) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Whiting?
6.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Whiting?
14 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Whiting work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stevens Point (35%, 2 mi), Plover (10%, 2 mi), Wausau (5%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Whiting walkable?
Whiting is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Whiting without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Whiting, from the people who make the trip.
More of Whiting
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.