Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0Where Audubon earns its living
The average commute takes 20 minutes each way (Minnesota 23, U.S. 26). 3% of workers work from home; Minnesota has 18%. Only 5% stay in Audubon for work; outside it, Detroit Lakes is the main destination (36%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Audubon apart
36% of Audubon works in Detroit Lakes
85 working residents, 36%, have their main job in Detroit Lakes, 7.6 miles away. That’s 7 times as many as work in Audubon itself. The commute map ↓
Few Audubon workers work from home
Only 3% 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 237 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Out of Audubon to work: where people go
Where Audubon clocks in
36% of workers
14% of workers
3% 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 trip to work from Audubon: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Audubon workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 202 commuters (the 3% 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.
Who leaves Audubon for work, and who comes in
On a workday 225 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 287 people come in from elsewhere.
About 630 people are in Audubon on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.26 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Goods, not services: 67% of the jobs in Audubon
299 jobs are based in Audubon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Audubon, 2013 → 2023: 267 → 299. 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 Audubon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Audubon, by distance
About 19% 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.
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 Audubon: questions
What is the median household income in Audubon?
$67,500 (±$16,397) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Audubon?
15.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Audubon?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Audubon work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit Lakes (36%, 8 mi), Fargo (14%, 40 mi), West Fargo (3%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Audubon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Audubon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Audubon
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.