Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Bluffton commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
Only 1% stay in Bluffton for work; outside it, Perham is the main destination (22%, 19 miles). 34 jobs are based in Bluffton, and 96 of its residents work somewhere. 3% of workers have no commute at all, against 18% across Minnesota.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bluffton quiets down on a workday
On a workday 95 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 33 people come in from elsewhere.
About 150 people are in Bluffton on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
The towns that employ Bluffton’s residents
Where Bluffton clocks in
22% of workers
13% of workers
11% 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.
What Bluffton’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bluffton, 2013 → 2023: 176 → 34. 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 Bluffton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 19 minutes in Bluffton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bluffton workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 144 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.
The distance from Bluffton to work
About 22% 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.
Work in the towns next to Bluffton
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bluffton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluffton | – | — | — | 19 min | $100,417 |
| Bluffton Township | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bluffton Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bluffton’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 Bluffton: questions
What is the median household income in Bluffton?
$100,417 (±$16,874) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bluffton?
2.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bluffton?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bluffton work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Perham (22%, 19 mi), New York Mills (13%, 8 mi), Detroit Lakes (11%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bluffton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bluffton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bluffton
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.