Work & commute · DeForest

Work & commute in DeForest, WI

Most working residents leave DeForest for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Madison (41%), Sun Prairie (6%) and Middleton (3%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

592 of 5,768 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

20%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,176 DeForest residents head out of town to work, 592 work right here, and 5,618 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in DeForest.

5,176live here, work elsewhere

592live and work here

5,618work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where DeForest goes to work

Madison10.7 mi away

41%2,393

DeForest (in town)right here

10%592

Sun Prairie6.3 mi away

6%326

Middleton11.7 mi away

3%201

Waunakee5.9 mi away

3%178

Windsor3.4 mi away

2%139

Fitchburg17.3 mi away

2%114

Milwaukee70.5 mi away

2%101

Monona12.2 mi away

1%78

Shorewood Hills11.6 mi away

1%77

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%1,569

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

How far

How far DeForest commutes

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

38%

44%

13%

38%Under 10 mi

44%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

DeForest is balanced between jobs and homes

1.08jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.08 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in DeForest are

6,210 jobs are based in DeForest. Here is what they are, next to the jobs DeForest’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in DeForest

6,210 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)45%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)28%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs DeForest residents hold

5,768 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+36%

Jobs based in DeForest, 2013 → 2023: 4,573 → 6,210. 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.