Work & commute · Bern

Work & commute in Bern, WI

Most working residents leave Bern for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Wausau (15%), Athens (10%) and Marathon City (7%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 262 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 260 Bern residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 29 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bern.

260live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

29work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bern goes to work

Wausau25.1 mi away

15%40

Athens5 mi away

10%25

Marathon City17.4 mi away

7%18

Medford11.1 mi away

7%18

Johnson7.8 mi away

6%16

Marshfield30.3 mi away

4%11

Abbotsford14.4 mi away

4%10

Hull15.5 mi away

3%7

Colby16.1 mi away

2%5

Merrill21.3 mi away

2%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%107

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Bern commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

20%

40%

17%

24%

20%Under 10 mi

40%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bern is a commuter town

0.12jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.12 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Bern are

31 jobs are based in Bern. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bern’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bern

31 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)52%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)29%

$1,250 a month or less42%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month39%

Jobs Bern residents hold

262 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)37%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)44%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month61%

−18%

Jobs based in Bern, 2013 → 2023: 38 → 31. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.