Whitewater is a medium-sized city located in the state of Wisconsin. With a population of 16,076 people and five associated neighborhoods, Whitewater is the 59th largest community in Wisconsin.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Whitewater is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Whitewater is a city of service providers, professionals, and production and manufacturing workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Whitewater who work in teaching (19.60%), food service (14.09%), and office and administrative support (12.63%). A relatively large number of people in Whitewater telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 11.02% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Whitewater is a small town with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Whitewater to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy. One of the benefits of Whitewater is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 18.67 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.The education level of Whitewater citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 35.33% of adults in Whitewater have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Whitewater in 2022 was $22,533, which is low income relative to Wisconsin and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $90,132 for a family of four. However, Whitewater contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Whitewater is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Whitewater home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Whitewater residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Whitewater include German, Irish, Albanian, Dutch, and English. The most common language spoken in Whitewater is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
