Photo: self · CC BY-SA 2.5Unemployment in Wilson (0.6%) is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
24% of workers work from home; Wisconsin has 13%. For jobs and income Wilson is better than 90% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (D). Household incomes here are higher than in 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Wilson, in brief
Much of Wilson works one town over
51% of working residents work in a town that borders Wilson: Sheboygan (34%), Kohler (9%) and Sheboygan (3%). Next door ↓
Wilson trades workers with the towns around it
Wilson has about as many jobs (1,465) as working residents (1,537), but they are mostly different people: 1,462 residents leave for work each day while 1,390 people come in. Only 5% of the jobs in Wilson are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Wilson makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Wilson are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Wilson residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 38%. The jobs ↓
Wilson has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Wilson went from 875 in 2014 to 1,465 in 2024, +67%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Wilson works from home
24% of Wilson 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Wilson
Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wilson could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,462 residents head out to work, 75 work right here, and 1,390 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 (0.95 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.
Wilson works in goods: 49% of its jobs
1,465 jobs are based in Wilson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wilson, 2014 → 2024: 875 → 1,465. 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 Wilson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Wilson takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wilson workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,320 commuters (the 24% 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.
34% of working residents work in Sheboygan
Where Wilson clocks in
34% of workers
9% 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.
Half of Wilson commutes less than 6 miles
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.
Most of Wilson commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,747 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). 0.0% of Wilson households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wilson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wilson places 414th of 4,402 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 412 | Amberley OH | 3,841 | $155K | 1.7% | 5.5% | 2% | A |
| 413 | Black Wolf WI | 2,447 | $99K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| 414 | Wilson WI | 3,401 | $105K | 6.1% | 0.6% | 5% | A |
| 415 | Bayview CA | 2,751 | $163K | 9.0% | 9.1% | <1% | A |
| 416 | Highfill AR | 3,676 | $93K | 4.2% | 0.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | 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 Wilson, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
The towns next door employ 51% of Wilson
The biggest share goes to Sheboygan (34%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wilson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilson | – | A | D | 17 min | $104,632 |
| Sheboygan | 34% | B− | A− | 17 min | $62,927 |
| Oostburg | 2% | A− | A | 24 min | $87,857 |
| Kohler | 9% | A | C | 15 min | $135,833 |
| Lima | under 2% | A | C | 17 min | $106,065 |
| Sheboygan | 3% | A | B | 16 min | $95,970 |
| Sheboygan Falls | 3% | B | B+ | 14 min | $71,477 |
| Holland | under 2% | A− | C+ | 25 min | $92,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wilson’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 Wilson: questions
What is the median household income in Wilson?
$104,632 (±$27,940) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wilson?
6.1%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wilson?
17 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wilson work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sheboygan (34%, 5 mi), Kohler (9%, 5 mi), Plymouth (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Wilson walkable?
Wilson is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wilson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wilson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wilson
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.