Photo: Iulus Ascanius at English Wikipedia · Public domainHousehold incomes in Afton are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 28% of workers, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%. The poverty rate is 6.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota. For jobs and income Afton is better than 91% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Afton and work: the main findings
Home offices are common in Afton
28% of Afton workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. Time on the road ↓
Afton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 23 across Minnesota. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Afton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Afton went from 346 in 2013 to 468 in 2023, +35%. The jobs ↓
Afton empties out on a workday
About 2,000 people are in Afton on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 3,000 who live here: 1,400 head out to work and 450 come in. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Afton
Household income is its strongest input ($133,305, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Afton could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
How long Afton spends getting to work: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Afton workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 911 commuters (the 28% who work from home are left out). Across Minnesota: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
65% of the jobs in Afton pay over $3,333 a month
468 jobs are based in Afton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Afton, 2013 → 2023: 346 → 468. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Afton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Afton, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,367 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 454 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Afton on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.34 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.
15% of working residents work in St. Paul
Where Afton clocks in
15% of workers
11% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The distance from Afton to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Afton, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 5.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,257 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.5% of Afton households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Afton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000, Afton ranks 353rd of 4,618 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Independence MN | 3,763 | $187K | 1.1% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Deephaven MN | 3,794 | $198K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 17 | Greenfield MN | 2,962 | $154K | 1.2% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 351 | Koshkonong WI | 3,776 | $103K | 4.4% | 1.1% | 3% | A |
| 352 | Salem AR | 2,642 | $74K | 2.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| 353 | Afton MN | 2,960 | $133K | 6.3% | 3.2% | 1% | A |
| 354 | Brimfield OH | 2,979 | $90K | 4.2% | 2.0% | 3% | A |
| 355 | Victor NY | 2,906 | $90K | 4.4% | 1.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Afton, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Afton and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Woodbury (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Afton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afton | – | A | C | 28 min | $133,305 |
| St. Marys Point | under 3% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Lake St. Croix Beach | under 3% | A− | B+ | 23 min | $102,159 |
| West Lakeland Township | under 3% | A+ | B− | 23 min | $216,310 |
| Denmark Township | under 3% | A+ | B− | 28 min | $148,269 |
| Woodbury | 5% | A | B+ | 24 min | $125,310 |
| Lakeland | under 3% | A+ | B | 25 min | $100,132 |
Same-state neighbors only. St. Marys Point: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Afton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Afton: questions
What is the median household income in Afton?
$133,305 (±$15,484) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Afton?
6.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Afton?
28 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Afton work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Paul (15%, 14 mi), Minneapolis (11%, 22 mi), Hastings (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Afton walkable?
Afton is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Afton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Afton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Afton
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.