Photo: Lorie Shaull · CC BY 2.0Work and commuting in Blackduck
Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers; Minnesota has 18%. About one in seven stay in Blackduck for work; outside it, Bemidji is the main destination (26%, 23 miles). The trip to work takes 27 minutes on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Blackduck in brief
Blackduck’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Blackduck is Bemidji, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 26% of working residents (100) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Blackduck makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Blackduck are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Blackduck residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. 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; with 384 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Half of Blackduck commutes less than 24 miles
About 27% 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.
35% of the jobs in Blackduck make or build things
570 jobs are based in Blackduck.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blackduck, 2013 → 2023: 651 → 570. 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 Blackduck’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Blackduck
On a workday 319 residents head out to work, 65 work right here, and 505 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Blackduck on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 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.
Out of Blackduck to work: where people go
Where Blackduck clocks in
26% 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.
About 27 minutes each way, longer than most of Minnesota
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blackduck workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 275 commuters (the 7% 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.
Next door to Blackduck
The biggest share goes to Summit Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Blackduck workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackduck | – | — | — | 27 min | $36,447 |
| Hines Township | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Summit Township | 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Hines Township and Summit Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Blackduck’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 Blackduck: questions
What is the median household income in Blackduck?
$36,447 (±$5,001) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blackduck?
25.9%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blackduck?
27 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blackduck work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bemidji (26%, 23 mi), Red Lake (4%, 23 mi), Little Rock (3%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Blackduck without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blackduck, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blackduck
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.