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Work & commute in Freedom · A commuter town

100% of Freedom’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Freedom for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Madison (18%), Sauk City (9%) and Baraboo (8%). Half commute less than 28 miles.

Work in town
0%
0 of 261 working residents
Typical commute
28 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
27 min
More than WI (22 min)
Work from home
3%
Less than WI (13%)
Jobs based here
34
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Freedom?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

18% of working residents work in Madison

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Glendale HeightsNapervilleBrownstownSantaquinNorth FreedomMerrimacMonticelloSauk City: 23 residents work here (9%)Prairie du Sac: 18 residents work here (7%)StoughtonReedsburg: 11 residents work here (4%)Waunakee: 4 residents work here (2%)Baraboo: 22 residents work here (8%)Middleton: 5 residents work here (2%)Fitchburg: 5 residents work here (2%)Madison: 48 residents work here (18%)ExcelsiorSumpterWestfieldPrairie du Sac: 8 residents work here (3%)BarabooFreedomDellonaHoney Creek: 6 residents work here (2%)MadisonSauk CityBarabooPrairie du SacReedsburgPrairie du SacFreedom
1
Madison32.8 mi away
18%48
2
Sauk City13 mi away
9%23
3
Baraboo8.9 mi away
8%22
4
Prairie du Sac11.8 mi away
7%18
5
Reedsburg9.5 mi away
4%11
6
Prairie du Sac10.5 mi away
3%8
7
Honey Creek5.5 mi away
2%6
8
Middleton29.1 mi away
2%5
9
Fitchburg38.2 mi away
2%5
10
Waunakee28.2 mi away
2%4
Everywhere elseother towns and states
43%111
The top trips

Where Freedom clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Day and night

Freedom quiets down on a workday

On a workday 261 residents head out to work, 0 work right here, and 34 people come in from elsewhere.

261live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
34work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night620
Workday390
620live here− 260head out to work+ 34come in to work= 390on a workday

About 390 people are in Freedom on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.13jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Freedom commutes less than 28 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi45 miMadison: 18% · 32.8 miSauk City: 9% · 13 miBaraboo: 8% · 8.9 miPrairie du Sac: 7% · 11.8 miReedsburg: 4% · 9.5 miPrairie du Sac: 3% · 10.5 miHoney Creek: 2% · 5.5 miMiddleton: 2% · 29.1 miFitchburg: 2% · 38.2 miWaunakee: 2% · 28.2 miMadison 18%Sauk City 9%Baraboo 8%Prairie du Sac 7%Reedsburg 4%Freedom
FreedomTop destinations (size = commuters)
19%Under 10 mi49 residents
29%10–24 mi76 residents
32%25–50 mi83 residents
20%Over 50 mi53 residents

About 20% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Freedom makes things: 50% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in FreedomJobs Freedom residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms50%28%
Trade, transport & utilities15%15%
Services: health, schools, offices35%57%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less35%17%
$1,251–$3,333 a month32%20%
Over $3,333 a month32%63%

Who does it

29 or younger3%21%
30 to 5456%49%
55 and older41%30%
−69%

Jobs based in Freedom, 2013 → 2023: 110 → 34. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Time on the road

About 27 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
207 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Freedom27 min
Wisconsin22 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
3%

of Freedom workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10

How Freedom ranks on commute time →

Next door

Freedom and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Honey Creek (2%). Darker towns draw more of Freedom’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Freedom

Freedom home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Freedom, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Freedom worth it?

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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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