Work & commute · Ottawa

Work & commute in Ottawa, WI

Most working residents leave Ottawa for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Milwaukee (11%), Waukesha (10%) and Oconomowoc (6%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

23 of 1,591 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,568 Ottawa residents head out of town to work, 23 work right here, and 333 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ottawa.

1,568live here, work elsewhere

23live and work here

333work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ottawa goes to work

Milwaukee27.4 mi away

11%173

Waukesha12.9 mi away

10%159

Oconomowoc9.6 mi away

6%90

Pewaukee14.4 mi away

5%86

Brookfield20.1 mi away

5%76

Wauwatosa24.1 mi away

4%58

Delafield8.9 mi away

3%52

New Berlin18.3 mi away

3%50

Dousman3.3 mi away

3%49

Wales6.8 mi away

2%34

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%764

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

How far

How far Ottawa commutes

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

24%

48%

21%

24%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ottawa is a commuter town

0.22jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Ottawa are

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

Jobs based in Ottawa

356 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities6%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Ottawa residents hold

1,591 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+40%

Jobs based in Ottawa, 2013 → 2023: 254 → 356. 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.