Work & commute · Elk

Work & commute in Elk, WI

Most working residents leave Elk for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Phillips (33%), Park Falls (6%) and Worcester (6%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

5 of 372 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 367 Elk residents head out of town to work, 5 work right here, and 37 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Elk.

367live here, work elsewhere

5live and work here

37work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Elk goes to work

Phillips5.4 mi away

33%121

Park Falls18.4 mi away

6%24

Worcester10.8 mi away

6%24

Hawkins14.9 mi away

4%15

Eau Claire76 mi away

4%15

Prentice14.1 mi away

3%13

Medford38.2 mi away

2%9

Merrill52.2 mi away

2%6

Wausau64.9 mi away

2%6

Ladysmith31.8 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

36%134

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

How far

How far Elk commutes

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

41%

18%

10%

32%

41%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

32%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Elk is a commuter town

0.11jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Elk are

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

Jobs based in Elk

42 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less45%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month14%

Jobs Elk residents hold

372 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)40%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

−48%

Jobs based in Elk, 2013 → 2023: 81 → 42. 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.