Photo: Feddacheenee · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Balaton commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Balaton report 98 jobs, and 240 of its residents work somewhere. Only 3% work in Balaton itself; outside it, Marshall draws the most (42%, 16 miles). 11% of workers work from home; Minnesota has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Balaton, in a few figures
42% of Balaton works in Marshall
101 working residents, 42%, have their main job in Marshall, 16 miles away. That’s 14 times as many as work in Balaton itself. The commute map ↓
Balaton 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 ↓
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 240 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Balaton’s working residents head each day
Where Balaton clocks in
42% 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 Balaton: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Balaton workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 228 commuters (the 11% 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.
Balaton quiets down on a workday
On a workday 233 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 91 people come in from elsewhere.
About 440 people are in Balaton on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
Balaton makes things: 39% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Balaton, 2013 → 2023: 52 → 98. 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 Balaton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Balaton goes to work
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.
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 Balaton: questions
What is the median household income in Balaton?
$54,688 (±$5,610) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Balaton?
17.7%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Balaton?
28 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Balaton work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marshall (42%, 16 mi), Tracy (5%, 12 mi), Russell (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Balaton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Balaton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Balaton
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.