Photo: Appraiser at English Wikipedia · Public domainApple Valley has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
For jobs and income Apple Valley is better than 89% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (A). Employers in Apple Valley report 13,799 jobs, and 25,332 of its residents work somewhere. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.2 in Minneapolis.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How Apple Valley earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Apple Valley could be anywhere from A− to A+.
How a workday changes Apple Valley
On a workday 22,866 residents head out to work, 2,466 work right here, and 11,333 people come in from elsewhere.
About 44,000 people are in Apple Valley on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
12% of working residents work in Minneapolis
Where Apple Valley clocks in
12% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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.
What Apple Valley’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Apple Valley, 2013 → 2023: 14,573 → 13,799. 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 Apple Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Apple Valley spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Apple Valley workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 21,941 commuters (the 22% 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.
How far Apple Valley’s workers travel
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.
Apple Valley is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% 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 28,263 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 80% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 37% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 5.3% of Apple Valley households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Apple Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Apple Valley is 126th of 786 U.S. towns of 39,000 to 75,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Maple Grove MN | 73,893 | $133K | 4.0% | 3.5% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Eden Prairie MN | 63,075 | $130K | 4.6% | 3.6% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Minnetonka MN | 53,969 | $120K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Urbandale IA | 48,570 | $113K | 6.8% | 2.9% | 12% | A |
| 125 | Perinton NY | 46,823 | $112K | 4.8% | 3.3% | 15% | A |
| 126 | Apple Valley MN | 55,248 | $98K | 6.0% | 3.1% | 10% | A |
| 127 | Yorba Linda CA | 65,632 | $158K | 5.8% | 4.7% | 5% | A |
| 128 | St. Louis Park MN | 50,027 | $102K | 6.9% | 3.2% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 786 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Apple Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work next door: 21% of Apple Valley’s workers
The biggest share goes to Eagan (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Apple Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Valley | – | A | A | 25 min | $97,673 |
| Rosemount | 2% | A+ | B+ | 28 min | $129,625 |
| Burnsville | 7% | B+ | A− | 23 min | $87,024 |
| Eagan | 8% | A | A− | 21 min | $108,690 |
| Lakeville | 4% | A+ | B | 24 min | $139,041 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Apple Valley’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 Apple Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Apple Valley?
$97,673 (±$4,987) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Apple Valley?
6.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Apple Valley?
25 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Apple Valley work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (12%, 15 mi), Bloomington (8%, 8 mi), Eagan (8%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Apple Valley walkable?
Apple Valley is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Apple Valley without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 37% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Apple Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Apple Valley
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.