Photo: Heritage Preservation Department - MNHS · CC BY-SA 2.0There are 1.8 jobs in Brandon for every working resident, and 397 people commute in
Home is the office for 7% of workers (Minnesota 18%). Brandon has 413 jobs for 224 working residents. Only 7% stay in Brandon for work; outside it, Alexandria is the main destination (38%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Brandon in brief
38% of Brandon works in Alexandria
86 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Alexandria, 12 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in Brandon itself. The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
59% of the jobs in Brandon are in trade, transport and utilities, against 23% of the jobs its residents hold. 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 224 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The daily trip into Brandon
Where Brandon clocks in
38% of workers
4% 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.
Jobs in Brandon: what the 413 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brandon, 2013 → 2023: 276 → 413. 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 Brandon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Brandon
On a workday 208 residents head out to work and 16 work right here.
About 700 people are in Brandon on a workday afternoon, 37% more than live here.
1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 Brandon: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brandon workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 251 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.
The commute from Brandon, by distance
About 20% 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 Brandon: questions
What is the median household income in Brandon?
$73,375 (±$19,273) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brandon?
1.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brandon?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brandon work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alexandria (38%, 12 mi), Fergus Falls (4%, 32 mi), La Grand Township (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Brandon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brandon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brandon
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.