Guest, Sign inJoin
Work & commute in Wind Lake · A commuter town

97% of Wind Lake’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Wind Lake for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Milwaukee (16%), Muskego (7%) and Norway (5%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Work in town
3%
90 of 2,856 working residents
Typical commute
16 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
33 min
More than WI (22 min)
Work from home
12%
Less than WI (13%)
Jobs based here
411
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Wind Lake?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

16% of working residents work in Milwaukee

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

WaterfordWest Allis: 103 residents work here (4%)GreenfieldWauwatosa: 91 residents work here (3%)Waukesha: 104 residents work here (4%)New Berlin: 121 residents work here (4%)Franklin: 94 residents work here (3%)Muskego: 197 residents work here (7%)Oak Creek: 100 residents work here (4%)Brookfield: 94 residents work here (3%)Milwaukee: 471 residents work here (16%)WaterfordNorway: 135 residents work here (5%)BurlingtonWind LakeTichiganMilwaukeeMuskegoNorwayNew BerlinWaukeshaWest AllisWind Lake
1
Milwaukee18.9 mi away
16%471
2
Muskego3.2 mi away
7%197
3
Norway2.7 mi away
5%135
4
New Berlin10 mi away
4%121
5
Waukesha13.3 mi away
4%104
6
West Allis14 mi away
4%103
7
Oak Creek13.5 mi away
4%100
8
Franklin8.3 mi away
3%94
9
Brookfield16.4 mi away
3%94
10
Wauwatosa17.4 mi away
3%91
Everywhere elseother towns and states
47%1,346
The top trips

Where Wind Lake clocks in

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

The jobs

What the 411 jobs in Wind Lake are

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

Jobs based in Wind LakeJobs Wind Lake residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms14%25%
Trade, transport & utilities20%19%
Services: health, schools, offices66%55%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less23%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month30%18%
Over $3,333 a month47%66%

Who does it

29 or younger23%21%
30 to 5451%50%
55 and older26%29%
+28%

Jobs based in Wind Lake, 2013 → 2023: 321 → 411. 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 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Wisconsin

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

A year of commuting
251 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Wind Lake33 min
Wisconsin22 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
12%

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

About 1 in 10
Day and night

Wind Lake quiets down on a workday

On a workday 2,766 residents head out to work, 90 work right here, and 321 people come in from elsewhere.

2,766live here, work elsewhere
90live and work here
321work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night4,800
Workday2,400
4,800live here− 2,800head out to work+ 320come in to work= 2,400on a workday

About 2,400 people are in Wind Lake on a workday afternoon, 51% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.14jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.14 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 Wind Lake commutes less than 16 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi30 miMilwaukee: 16% · 18.9 miMuskego: 7% · 3.2 miNorway: 5% · 2.7 miNew Berlin: 4% · 10 miWaukesha: 4% · 13.3 miWest Allis: 4% · 14 miOak Creek: 4% · 13.5 miFranklin: 3% · 8.3 miBrookfield: 3% · 16.4 miWauwatosa: 3% · 17.4 miMilwaukee 16%Muskego 7%Norway 5%New Berlin 4%Waukesha 4%Wind Lake
Wind LakeTop destinations (size = commuters)
22%Under 10 mi615 residents
65%10–24 mi1,852 residents
5%25–50 mi145 residents
8%Over 50 mi242 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

Next door

12% of Wind Lake works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Muskego (7%). Darker towns draw more of Wind Lake’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 Wind Lake

Wind Lake home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Wind Lake, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Wind Lake worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

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.

Post to Wind Lake

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in