La Crosse is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Wisconsin. With a population of 51,049 people and 18 associated neighborhoods, La Crosse is the 12th largest community in Wisconsin.Unlike some cities, La Crosse isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in La Crosse are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, La Crosse is a city of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in La Crosse who work in office and administrative support (10.66%), food service (10.41%), and sales jobs (8.75%). Also of interest is that La Crosse has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 9.99% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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. Because La Crosse has a very large number of students who are 18 years or older and in college, it is thought of as a college town. This has a major influence on local La Crosse lifestyle, entertainment, and culture in general. Life in La Crosse is very much tied to the academic calendar: when students return from the summer break in the fall, one will notice them out and about, buying groceries, out with friends, and generally getting re-acquainted with each other. In La Crosse people study hard and play hard, and there is ample opportunity to do both. Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 17.43 minutes getting to work every day.The population of La Crosse is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 34.81% of adults in La Crosse have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in La Crosse in 2022 was $34,356, which is lower middle income relative to Wisconsin, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $137,424 for a family of four. However, La Crosse contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. La Crosse is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call La Crosse home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of La Crosse residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in La Crosse include German, Irish, Norwegian, English, and Polish. The most common language spoken in La Crosse is English. Other important languages spoken here include Miao/Hmong and Polish.
