Work & commute · Wales

Work & commute in Wales, WI

Most working residents leave Wales for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Waukesha (13%), Milwaukee (10%) and Pewaukee (7%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

40 of 1,332 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,292 Wales residents head out of town to work, 40 work right here, and 1,351 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wales.

1,292live here, work elsewhere

40live and work here

1,351work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wales goes to work

Waukesha6.3 mi away

13%175

Milwaukee20.8 mi away

10%133

Pewaukee7.6 mi away

7%87

Wauwatosa17.4 mi away

5%61

Brookfield13.4 mi away

4%59

Oconomowoc9.1 mi away

4%51

West Allis17.2 mi away

3%43

New Berlin12.4 mi away

3%41

Wales (in town)right here

3%40

Menomonee Falls16.4 mi away

3%37

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%605

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

How far

How far Wales commutes

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

40%

43%

40%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wales is balanced between jobs and homes

1.04jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.04 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Wales are

1,391 jobs are based in Wales. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wales’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wales

1,391 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Wales residents hold

1,332 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+50%

Jobs based in Wales, 2013 → 2023: 926 → 1,391. 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.