Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Bemidji has 2.3 jobs per working resident, and 10,829 people come in to work
Household incomes here are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns. There are 14,295 jobs in Bemidji; 6,282 of its residents have a job. Bemidji grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bemidji: the figures worth knowing
Bemidji is where the jobs are
Bemidji has 14,295 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 24,000 people are in town, 51% more than the 16,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Bemidji are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
A young workforce
30% of Bemidji’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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.
What’s behind Bemidji’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bemidji is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #255 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car holds Bemidji’s grade up (ahead of 41% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bemidji could be anywhere from D to C.
The daily flow of workers through Bemidji
On a workday 2,816 residents head out to work and 3,466 work right here.
About 24,000 people are in Bemidji on a workday afternoon, 51% more 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.
The trip to work from Bemidji: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bemidji workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,211 commuters (the 6% 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.
What Bemidji’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bemidji, 2013 → 2023: 12,406 → 14,295. 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 Bemidji’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Bemidji live
Where Bemidji clocks in
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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Bemidji
About 23% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Bemidji
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bemidji is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #41 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Bemidji near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,666 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). 9.9% of Bemidji households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Bemidji’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,109 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000, Bemidji comes 1,895th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Mendota Heights MN | 11,475 | $133K | 2.8% | 1.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Victoria MN | 12,447 | $196K | 2.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,893 | Chickasha OK | 17,313 | $54K | 17.5% | 6.9% | 38% | C− |
| 1,894 | Bayshore Gardens FL | 18,131 | $45K | 15.0% | 11.4% | 2% | C− |
| 1,895 | Bemidji MN | 15,770 | $55K | 21.3% | 5.2% | 55% | C− |
| 1,896 | Salem OH | 11,655 | $47K | 21.3% | 6.2% | 26% | C− |
| 1,897 | Parker SC | 12,898 | $40K | 29.6% | 7.0% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | 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 Bemidji, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Bemidji and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Northern Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bemidji workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bemidji | – | C− | A | 17 min | $55,405 |
| Bemidji Township | 1% | B− | B− | 19 min | $82,750 |
| Northern Township | 2% | B+ | C+ | 20 min | $99,848 |
| Eckles Township | under 1% | B− | B− | 22 min | $78,125 |
| Grant Valley Township | under 1% | B+ | D | 18 min | $80,109 |
| Frohn Township | under 1% | C+ | D− | 24 min | $90,156 |
| Turtle River Township | under 1% | B | C− | 19 min | $94,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bemidji’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 Bemidji: questions
What is the median household income in Bemidji?
$55,405 (±$4,666) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bemidji?
21.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bemidji?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bemidji work?
55% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cass Lake (3%, 15 mi), Red Lake (2%, 27 mi), Northern Township (2%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bemidji walkable?
Bemidji is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bemidji without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bemidji, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bemidji
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.