Work & commute · Dorchester

Work & commute in Dorchester, WI

Most working residents leave Dorchester for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Abbotsford (17%), Colby (13%) and Medford (12%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16 of 344 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 328 Dorchester residents head out of town to work, 16 work right here, and 514 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Dorchester.

328live here, work elsewhere

16live and work here

514work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Dorchester goes to work

Abbotsford4.1 mi away

17%59

Colby6.3 mi away

13%44

Medford9.3 mi away

12%40

Dorchester (in town)right here

5%16

Mayville2.8 mi away

4%13

Hull8.4 mi away

3%10

Owen11.8 mi away

2%6

Curtiss6.3 mi away

1%5

Spencer17.2 mi away

1%5

Menomonie77.6 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%141

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

How far

How far Dorchester commutes

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

57%

13%

26%

57%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Dorchester is a job hub

1.54jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Dorchester are

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

Jobs based in Dorchester

530 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)77%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)10%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month73%

Jobs Dorchester residents hold

344 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)42%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)35%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month51%

−7%

Jobs based in Dorchester, 2013 → 2023: 570 → 530. 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.