Work & commute · Waterloo

Work & commute in Waterloo, WI

Most working residents leave Waterloo for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Madison (9%), Watertown (8%) and Lake Mills (6%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

179 of 1,592 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,413 Waterloo residents head out of town to work, 179 work right here, and 1,857 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waterloo.

1,413live here, work elsewhere

179live and work here

1,857work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waterloo goes to work

Waterloo (in town)right here

11%179

Madison23.1 mi away

9%151

Watertown13.2 mi away

8%122

Lake Mills8.4 mi away

6%97

Sun Prairie12.5 mi away

5%82

Milwaukee52.3 mi away

4%64

Johnson Creek13.2 mi away

3%42

Jefferson15.4 mi away

2%34

Fort Atkinson19.8 mi away

2%25

Chicago, IL114.3 mi away

1%22

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%774

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

How far

How far Waterloo commutes

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

23%

41%

19%

18%

23%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waterloo is balanced between jobs and homes

1.28jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Waterloo are

2,036 jobs are based in Waterloo. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waterloo’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waterloo

2,036 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)66%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)22%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month69%

Jobs Waterloo residents hold

1,592 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)34%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+20%

Jobs based in Waterloo, 2013 → 2023: 1,694 → 2,036. 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.