Work & commute · Polk

Work & commute in Polk, WI

Most working residents leave Polk for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Milwaukee (12%), West Bend (8%) and Menomonee Falls (6%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

60 of 2,081 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,021 Polk residents head out of town to work, 60 work right here, and 1,839 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Polk.

2,021live here, work elsewhere

60live and work here

1,839work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Polk goes to work

Milwaukee23.3 mi away

12%250

West Bend4.9 mi away

8%160

Menomonee Falls14 mi away

6%133

Slinger3.5 mi away

5%107

Germantown9.1 mi away

5%103

Wauwatosa21.7 mi away

4%87

Hartford8.6 mi away

4%83

Brookfield20.3 mi away

3%60

Polk (in town)right here

3%60

Waukesha23.6 mi away

3%54

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%984

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

How far

How far Polk commutes

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

31%

46%

13%

10%

31%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Polk is balanced between jobs and homes

0.91jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.91 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Polk are

1,899 jobs are based in Polk. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Polk’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Polk

1,899 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Polk residents hold

2,081 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+20%

Jobs based in Polk, 2013 → 2023: 1,585 → 1,899. 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.