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Work & commute in Viroqua · A commuter town

98% of Viroqua’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Viroqua for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Viroqua (22%), La Crosse (12%) and Westby (10%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Work in town
2%
17 of 768 working residents
Typical commute
19 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
23 min
More than WI (22 min)
Work from home
12%
Less than WI (13%)
Jobs based here
184
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Viroqua?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

22% of working residents work in Viroqua

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

St. Paul: 15 residents work here (2%)Coon ValleyCashton: 34 residents work here (4%)Westby: 80 residents work here (10%)Viroqua: 169 residents work here (22%)Sparta: 16 residents work here (2%)Onalaska: 21 residents work here (3%)La Crosse: 91 residents work here (12%)Madison: 12 residents work here (2%)HarmonyJeffersonKickapooWebsterChristianaViroquaCoonLibertyFranklin: 14 residents work here (2%)ViroquaLa CrosseWestbyCashtonOnalaskaSpartaViroqua
1
Viroqua2.9 mi away
22%169
2
La Crosse26.4 mi away
12%91
3
Westby5.9 mi away
10%80
4
Cashton12 mi away
4%34
5
Onalaska28.9 mi away
3%21
6
Viroqua (in town)right here
2%17
7
Sparta25.4 mi away
2%16
8
St. Paul, MN147.4 mi away
2%15
9
Franklin6.9 mi away
2%14
10
Madison77.9 mi away
2%12
Everywhere elseother towns and states
39%299
The top trips

Where Viroqua clocks in

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

Day and night

Viroqua quiets down on a workday

On a workday 751 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 167 people come in from elsewhere.

751live here, work elsewhere
17live and work here
167work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,700
Workday1,100
1,700live here− 750head out to work+ 170come in to work= 1,100on a workday

About 1,100 people are in Viroqua on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.24jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.24 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 Viroqua commutes less than 19 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 miViroqua: 22% · 2.9 miLa Crosse: 12% · 26.4 miWestby: 10% · 5.9 miCashton: 4% · 12 miOnalaska: 3% · 28.9 miSparta: 2% · 25.4 miSt. Paul: 2% · 147.4 miFranklin: 2% · 6.9 miMadison: 2% · 77.9 miViroqua 22%La Crosse 12%Westby 10%Cashton 4%Onalaska 3%Viroqua
ViroquaTop destinations (size = commuters)
43%Under 10 mi325 residents
21%10–24 mi157 residents
14%25–50 mi104 residents
23%Over 50 mi178 residents

About 23% 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

Viroqua makes things: 35% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in ViroquaJobs Viroqua residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms35%19%
Trade, transport & utilities24%23%
Services: health, schools, offices41%58%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less21%20%
$1,251–$3,333 a month29%27%
Over $3,333 a month50%54%

Who does it

29 or younger30%21%
30 to 5446%49%
55 and older24%29%
+114%

Jobs based in Viroqua, 2013 → 2023: 86 → 184. 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.

Time on the road

About 23 minutes each way, about the WI average

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

A year of commuting
177 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Viroqua23 min
Wisconsin22 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
12%

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

About 1 in 10

How Viroqua ranks on commute time →

Next door

12% of Viroqua works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Westby (10%). Darker towns draw more of Viroqua’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 Viroqua

Viroqua home →

Commuter talk

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

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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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