Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Atwater has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
4% of workers have no commute at all (Minnesota 18%). There are 249 jobs in Atwater, against 535 working residents. Atwater grades B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Atwater
One in three of Atwater works in Willmar
174 working residents, 33%, have their main job in Willmar, 14 miles away. That’s 8 times as many as work in Atwater itself. The commute map ↓
Few Atwater workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; with 535 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Atwater’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Atwater is better than 49% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Atwater’s grade up (5.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (8.7%) is left out: Atwater’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Atwater could be anywhere from C to B+.
33% of working residents work in Willmar
Where Atwater clocks in
33% 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.
Commuting from Atwater: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atwater workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 572 commuters (the 4% 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.
Atwater quiets down on a workday
On a workday 511 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 225 people come in from elsewhere.
About 800 people are in Atwater on a workday afternoon, 26% 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.
What Atwater’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atwater, 2013 → 2023: 168 → 249. 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 Atwater’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Atwater
About 21% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
Few in Atwater walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Atwater is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% 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 596 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.9% of Atwater households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Atwater’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Atwater is 1,288th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,286 | Hiawatha Township MI | 1,326 | $79K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 1% | B− |
| 1,287 | Silver Grove KY | 1,333 | $47K | 7.5% | 8.0% | 1% | B− |
| 1,288 | Atwater MN | 1,090 | $71K | 5.5% | 8.7% | 4% | B− |
| 1,289 | North Union Township PA | 1,412 | $71K | 6.4% | 3.4% | 1% | B− |
| 1,290 | Hazelhurst WI | 1,323 | $85K | 5.1% | 2.0% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Atwater, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
How Atwater compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Gennessee Township (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Atwater workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atwater | – | B− | B− | 22 min | $71,042 |
| Gennessee Township | 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Gennessee Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Atwater’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 Atwater: questions
What is the median household income in Atwater?
$71,042 (±$17,779) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atwater?
5.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atwater?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atwater work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Willmar (33%, 14 mi), Litchfield (6%, 12 mi), Gennessee Township (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Atwater walkable?
Atwater is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Atwater without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Atwater, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atwater
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.