Work & commute · Wauwatosa

Work & commute in Wauwatosa, WI

Most working residents leave Wauwatosa for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Milwaukee (31%), Brookfield (6%) and West Allis (4%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

4,300 of 24,874 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 20,574 Wauwatosa residents head out of town to work, 4,300 work right here, and 54,531 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wauwatosa.

20,574live here, work elsewhere

4,300live and work here

54,531work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wauwatosa goes to work

Milwaukee3.5 mi away

31%7,777

Wauwatosa (in town)right here

17%4,300

Brookfield4.2 mi away

6%1,489

West Allis3.9 mi away

4%933

Menomonee Falls7.9 mi away

4%914

Waukesha11.2 mi away

3%815

New Berlin7.9 mi away

2%545

Pewaukee10.5 mi away

2%508

Madison70.4 mi away

2%428

Glendale7 mi away

2%406

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%6,759

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

How far

How far Wauwatosa commutes

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

73%

15%

73%Under 10 mi

15%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wauwatosa is a job hub

2.37jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Wauwatosa are

58,831 jobs are based in Wauwatosa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wauwatosa’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wauwatosa

58,831 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)83%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Wauwatosa residents hold

24,874 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month16%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+8%

Jobs based in Wauwatosa, 2013 → 2023: 54,563 → 58,831. 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.