Work & commute · Brookfield

Work & commute in Brookfield, WI

Most working residents leave Brookfield for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Milwaukee (23%), Wauwatosa (10%) and Waukesha (5%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

2,494 of 20,277 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 17,783 Brookfield residents head out of town to work, 2,494 work right here, and 38,210 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Brookfield.

17,783live here, work elsewhere

2,494live and work here

38,210work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Brookfield goes to work

Milwaukee7.6 mi away

23%4,703

Brookfield (in town)right here

12%2,494

Wauwatosa4.2 mi away

10%2,124

Waukesha7.5 mi away

5%1,052

Menomonee Falls6.6 mi away

5%918

Pewaukee6.4 mi away

3%699

West Allis6 mi away

3%647

New Berlin6.4 mi away

3%634

Brookfield3.3 mi away

3%546

Madison66.2 mi away

2%369

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%6,091

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

How far

How far Brookfield commutes

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

63%

25%

63%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Brookfield is a job hub

2.01jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Brookfield are

40,704 jobs are based in Brookfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Brookfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Brookfield

40,704 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Brookfield residents hold

20,277 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+11%

Jobs based in Brookfield, 2013 → 2023: 36,673 → 40,704. 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.