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Work & commute in Helvetia · A commuter town

99% of Helvetia’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Helvetia for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Manawa (12%), Waupaca (8%) and New London (6%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Work in town
1%
4 of 361 working residents
Typical commute
27 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
29 min
More than WI (22 min)
Work from home
14%
More than WI (13%)
Jobs based here
61
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Helvetia?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

12% of working residents work in Manawa

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

Manawa: 42 residents work here (12%)Iola: 7 residents work here (2%)MarionClintonville: 10 residents work here (3%)New London: 21 residents work here (6%)Waupaca: 30 residents work here (8%)Appleton: 15 residents work here (4%)Green BayOshkosh: 15 residents work here (4%)Madison: 12 residents work here (3%)HelvetiaLittle WolfLindIolaFarmington: 8 residents work here (2%)WyomingGrand Chute: 8 residents work here (2%)UnionSt. LawrenceManawaWaupacaNew LondonAppletonOshkoshMadisonHelvetia
1
Manawa7.9 mi away
12%42
2
Waupaca13.5 mi away
8%30
3
New London17.7 mi away
6%21
4
Appleton36.7 mi away
4%15
5
Oshkosh42.9 mi away
4%15
6
Madison102.6 mi away
3%12
7
Clintonville14.8 mi away
3%10
8
Farmington13.6 mi away
2%8
9
Grand Chute33.4 mi away
2%8
10
Iola4.8 mi away
2%7
Everywhere elseother towns and states
53%193
The top trips

Where Helvetia clocks in

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

Time on the road

About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin

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

A year of commuting
223 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Helvetia29 min
Wisconsin22 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
14%

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

About 1 in 10
Day and night

Helvetia quiets down on a workday

On a workday 357 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 57 people come in from elsewhere.

357live here, work elsewhere
4live and work here
57work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night670
Workday370
670live here− 360head out to work+ 57come in to work= 370on a workday

About 370 people are in Helvetia on a workday afternoon, 45% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.17jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.17 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 Helvetia commutes less than 27 miles

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

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miManawa: 12% · 7.9 miWaupaca: 8% · 13.5 miNew London: 6% · 17.7 miAppleton: 4% · 36.7 miOshkosh: 4% · 42.9 miMadison: 3% · 102.6 miClintonville: 3% · 14.8 miFarmington: 2% · 13.6 miGrand Chute: 2% · 33.4 miIola: 2% · 4.8 miManawa 12%Waupaca 8%New London 6%Oshkosh 4%Helvetia
HelvetiaTop destinations (size = commuters)
15%Under 10 mi53 residents
34%10–24 mi121 residents
29%25–50 mi106 residents
22%Over 50 mi81 residents

About 22% 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

Helvetia makes things: 30% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in HelvetiaJobs Helvetia residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms30%42%
Trade, transport & utilities13%16%
Services: health, schools, offices57%42%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less26%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month23%25%
Over $3,333 a month51%61%

Who does it

29 or younger16%23%
30 to 5459%53%
55 and older25%24%
−3%

Jobs based in Helvetia, 2013 → 2023: 63 → 61. 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.

Next door

Helvetia and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Helvetia’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 Helvetia

Helvetia home →

Commuter talk

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

Town Square →
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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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