Work & commute · Plain

Work & commute in Plain, WI

Most working residents leave Plain for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Madison (14%), Reedsburg (10%) and Sauk City (5%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

24 of 339 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 315 Plain residents head out of town to work, 24 work right here, and 500 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Plain.

315live here, work elsewhere

24live and work here

500work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Plain goes to work

Madison33.5 mi away

14%47

Reedsburg18 mi away

10%35

Plain (in town)right here

7%24

Sauk City15.6 mi away

5%16

Spring Green7 mi away

4%15

Richland Center17.7 mi away

4%13

Baraboo20.2 mi away

4%13

Spring Green6.3 mi away

2%8

Prairie du Sac12.3 mi away

2%8

Dodgeville21.9 mi away

2%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%154

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

How far

How far Plain commutes

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

19%

36%

24%

22%

19%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Plain is a job hub

1.55jobs 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 Plain are

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

Jobs based in Plain

524 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)75%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)14%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month11%

Over $3,333 a month78%

Jobs Plain residents hold

339 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)36%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)44%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+21%

Jobs based in Plain, 2013 → 2023: 432 → 524. 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.