Wood County Courthouse · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0Households in Wisconsin Rapids earn less than those in 81% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Wisconsin Rapids; the top destination outside it is Stevens Point (9%, 16 miles). 14.8% of residents are in poverty (Wisconsin State 10.6%). Jobs and income earn Wisconsin Rapids C−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Wisconsin Rapids apart
The figures behind Wisconsin Rapids’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wisconsin Rapids is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #348 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car holds Wisconsin Rapids’ grade up (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($55,253, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wisconsin Rapids could be anywhere from D to C+.
Near or far: the trip to work from Wisconsin Rapids
About 30% 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.
Who commutes out of Wisconsin Rapids, and who commutes in
On a workday 5,651 residents head out to work, 2,295 work right here, and 7,460 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Wisconsin Rapids on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.23 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 towns that employ Wisconsin Rapids’ residents
Where Wisconsin Rapids clocks in
Lines 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 kinds of work in Wisconsin Rapids
9,755 jobs are based in Wisconsin Rapids.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wisconsin Rapids, 2014 → 2024: 11,265 → 9,755. 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 Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Wisconsin Rapids: 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 Wisconsin Rapids workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin State. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,822 commuters (the 9% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Wisconsin Rapids
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wisconsin Rapids is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #71 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin State.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,563 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). 7.7% of Wisconsin Rapids households have no vehicle (Wisconsin State 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Wisconsin Rapids’ commuters take a bus or train.
Where Wisconsin Rapids sits among U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Greenville WI | 13,388 | $118K | 1.7% | 0.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Whitefish Bay WI | 14,489 | $157K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Verona WI | 16,821 | $120K | 1.4% | 1.6% | 22% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,732 | Naranja FL | 15,796 | $54K | 30.3% | 8.9% | 1% | C− |
| 1,733 | Watertown NY | 23,517 | $52K | 20.1% | 5.3% | 42% | C− |
| 1,734 | Wisconsin Rapids WI | 18,654 | $55K | 14.8% | 6.6% | 29% | C− |
| 1,735 | Valle Vista CA | 18,602 | $67K | 16.7% | 8.7% | 3% | C− |
| 1,736 | Gantt SC | 15,401 | $47K | 25.2% | 8.2% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Rapids, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin State.
Wisconsin Rapids and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Grand Rapids (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wisconsin Rapids workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Rapids | – | C− | A− | 20 min | $55,253 |
| Grand Rapids | 2% | B+ | D | 24 min | $96,658 |
| Biron | 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Seneca | under 2% | C+ | D− | 23 min | $86,779 |
| Port Edwards | under 2% | C+ | C− | 25 min | $75,598 |
| Rudolph | under 2% | A− | D | 27 min | $89,464 |
| Sigel | under 2% | C | C | 24 min | $67,963 |
Same-state neighbors only. Biron: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wisconsin Rapids’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 Rapids: questions
What is the median household income in Wisconsin Rapids?
$55,253 (±$5,028) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin State and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wisconsin Rapids?
14.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin State and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wisconsin Rapids?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin State and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wisconsin Rapids work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stevens Point (9%, 16 mi), Plover (6%, 15 mi), Marshfield (3%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Wisconsin Rapids walkable?
Wisconsin Rapids is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wisconsin Rapids without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wisconsin Rapids, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wisconsin Rapids
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.