Work & commute · South Milwaukee

Work & commute in South Milwaukee, WI

Most working residents leave South Milwaukee for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Milwaukee (30%), Oak Creek (9%) and Cudahy (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

712 of 10,138 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 9,426 South Milwaukee residents head out of town to work, 712 work right here, and 3,278 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in South Milwaukee.

9,426live here, work elsewhere

712live and work here

3,278work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where South Milwaukee goes to work

Milwaukee11.7 mi away

30%3,043

Oak Creek3 mi away

9%961

South Milwaukee (in town)right here

7%712

Cudahy2.4 mi away

4%455

Wauwatosa13.6 mi away

4%401

West Allis10.7 mi away

3%323

Franklin7.8 mi away

3%285

Brookfield16.6 mi away

3%262

Waukesha20.5 mi away

2%246

New Berlin14.1 mi away

2%218

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%3,232

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

How far

How far South Milwaukee commutes

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

49%

38%

49%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

South Milwaukee is a commuter town

0.39jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in South Milwaukee are

3,990 jobs are based in South Milwaukee. Here is what they are, next to the jobs South Milwaukee’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in South Milwaukee

3,990 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs South Milwaukee residents hold

10,138 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month61%

−24%

Jobs based in South Milwaukee, 2013 → 2023: 5,273 → 3,990. 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.