Photo: 123dieinafire · CC BY 3.0Where Anoka earns its living
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.2 in Minneapolis. For jobs and income Anoka is better than 67% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (A−). About one in seven work in Anoka; the top destination outside it is Minneapolis (11%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Anoka: the gist
What’s behind Anoka’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Anoka’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Anoka could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Anoka on a workday afternoon
On a workday 7,428 residents head out to work, 1,105 work right here, and 13,475 people come in from elsewhere.
About 24,000 people are in Anoka on a workday afternoon, 33% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Anoka’s workers come from
Where Anoka clocks in
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.
29% of the jobs in Anoka make or build things
14,580 jobs are based in Anoka.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Anoka, 2013 → 2023: 12,502 → 14,580. 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 Anoka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Anoka
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Anoka workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,407 commuters (the 12% 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.
The commute from Anoka, by distance
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.
Anoka is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,397 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 75% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 32% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 8.7% of Anoka households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Anoka’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000, Anoka ranks 915th of 1,915 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Hugo MN | 17,167 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Otsego MN | 24,525 | $120K | 3.5% | 1.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 913 | Lake Wylie SC | 16,006 | $112K | 9.1% | 6.0% | 5% | B+ |
| 914 | Hayden ID | 17,363 | $83K | 7.8% | 3.1% | 15% | B+ |
| 915 | Anoka MN | 18,169 | $76K | 8.3% | 4.8% | 13% | B+ |
| 916 | Franklin Township IN | 22,301 | $83K | 9.5% | 3.9% | 21% | B+ |
| 917 | Spring Garden Township PA | 13,617 | $103K | 9.1% | 5.8% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Anoka, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Anoka and its neighbors: 12% work next door
The biggest share goes to Coon Rapids (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Anoka workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anoka | – | B+ | A− | 25 min | $75,948 |
| Ramsey | 3% | A | B− | 28 min | $116,415 |
| Coon Rapids | 9% | B+ | A− | 23 min | $88,251 |
| Andover | under 3% | A+ | C | 25 min | $137,593 |
| Champlin | under 3% | A | A− | 25 min | $116,102 |
| Dayton | under 3% | A+ | C− | 27 min | $148,947 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Anoka’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 Anoka: questions
What is the median household income in Anoka?
$75,948 (±$9,040) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Anoka?
8.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Anoka?
25 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Anoka work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (11%, 18 mi), Coon Rapids (9%, 5 mi), St. Paul (5%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Anoka walkable?
Anoka is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Anoka without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 32% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Anoka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Anoka
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.