Work & commute · Watertown

Work & commute in Watertown, WI

Most working residents leave Watertown for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Watertown (14%), Madison (6%) and Oconomowoc (6%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

23 of 989 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 966 Watertown residents head out of town to work, 23 work right here, and 376 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Watertown.

966live here, work elsewhere

23live and work here

376work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Watertown goes to work

Watertown2.7 mi away

14%143

Madison35 mi away

6%62

Oconomowoc12.9 mi away

6%61

Waukesha26.9 mi away

4%44

Milwaukee39.5 mi away

4%37

Johnson Creek5.2 mi away

4%35

Watertown (in town)right here

2%23

Summit15 mi away

2%20

Waterloo12.8 mi away

2%19

Ixonia6.8 mi away

2%19

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%526

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

How far

How far Watertown commutes

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

27%

35%

11%

27%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

35%25–50 mi

11%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Watertown is a commuter town

0.40jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Watertown are

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

Jobs based in Watertown

399 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)49%

Trade, transport & utilities33%

Services (health, schools, offices…)19%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month73%

Jobs Watertown residents hold

989 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+22%

Jobs based in Watertown, 2013 → 2023: 327 → 399. 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.