Jacob Weber House · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0Few U.S. towns have unemployment as high as Wisconsin Dells’ 15.5%
3% of workers work from home, next to 13% for Wisconsin State as a whole. Wisconsin Dells grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Measured by household income, Wisconsin Dells is behind 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wisconsin Dells and work: the main findings
Wisconsin Dells is where the jobs are
Wisconsin Dells has 2,839 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,500 people are in town, 42% more than the 3,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Wisconsin Dells workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 13% across Wisconsin State. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Wisconsin Dells
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wisconsin Dells is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #349 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car holds Wisconsin Dells’ grade up (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wisconsin Dells could be anywhere from D to B−.
Who works in Wisconsin Dells, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,269 residents head out to work, 251 work right here, and 2,588 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Wisconsin Dells on a workday afternoon, 42% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How long Wisconsin Dells spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wisconsin Dells workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin State. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,038 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin State: 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.
The towns that send workers to Wisconsin Dells
Where Wisconsin Dells clocks in
10% 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.
What Wisconsin Dells’ employers do
2,839 jobs are based in Wisconsin Dells.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wisconsin Dells, 2014 → 2024: 2,278 → 2,839. 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 Wisconsin Dells’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Wisconsin Dells
About 21% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Wisconsin Dells
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wisconsin Dells is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #66 of 362 in Wisconsin. Both inputs place Wisconsin Dells near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,073 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). 12.0% of Wisconsin Dells households have no vehicle (Wisconsin State 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Wisconsin Dells’ commuters take a bus or train.
Wisconsin Dells places 3,840th of 4,698 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Center WI | 3,706 | $115K | 1.6% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,838 | Centerville IN | 2,742 | $50K | 14.2% | 7.4% | 6% | C− |
| 3,839 | Paw Paw MI | 3,386 | $42K | 21.9% | 5.7% | 10% | C− |
| 3,840 | Wisconsin Dells WI | 3,149 | $55K | 11.3% | 15.5% | 17% | C− |
| 3,841 | Norridgewock ME | 3,304 | $62K | 20.9% | 4.9% | 8% | C− |
| 3,842 | Mexico ME | 2,779 | $56K | 19.7% | 3.4% | 10% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | 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 Wisconsin Dells, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin State.
23% of Wisconsin Dells works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Lake Delton (21%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wisconsin Dells workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Dells | – | C− | A− | 22 min | $54,688 |
| Dell Prairie | under 2% | B− | D | 24 min | $88,516 |
| Newport | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Lyndon | under 2% | C− | C | 29 min | $62,188 |
| Delton | 2% | B+ | C+ | 22 min | $87,299 |
| Lake Delton | 21% | C | B | 17 min | $51,964 |
Same-state neighbors only. Newport: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wisconsin Dells’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 Wisconsin Dells: questions
What is the median household income in Wisconsin Dells?
$54,688 (±$26,746) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin State and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wisconsin Dells?
11.3%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin State and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wisconsin Dells?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin State and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wisconsin Dells work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lake Delton (21%, 3 mi), Madison (10%, 42 mi), Portage (6%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Wisconsin Dells walkable?
Wisconsin Dells is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wisconsin Dells without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wisconsin Dells, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wisconsin Dells
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.