Photo: Public domain · Public domainBrooklyn Park has higher household incomes than 68% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.2 in Minneapolis. The poverty rate is 9.5%, next to 9.3% for Minnesota as a whole. Jobs and income earn Brooklyn Park A−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Brooklyn Park and work: the main findings
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Brooklyn Park
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brooklyn Park is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #135 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brooklyn Park could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Brooklyn Park works in goods: 31% of its jobs
29,073 jobs are based in Brooklyn Park.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brooklyn Park, 2013 → 2023: 21,200 → 29,073. 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 Brooklyn Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Brooklyn Park on a workday
On a workday 34,857 residents head out to work, 3,953 work right here, and 25,120 people come in from elsewhere.
About 74,000 people are in Brooklyn Park on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.75 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
18% of working residents work in Minneapolis
Where Brooklyn Park clocks in
18% of workers
6% 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 21 minutes each way, about the MN average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brooklyn Park workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 36,819 commuters (the 15% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Brooklyn Park
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.
Brooklyn Park is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brooklyn Park is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #79 of 273 in Minnesota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 43,287 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 89% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 40% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 78% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.8% of Brooklyn Park households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Brooklyn Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 58,000 to 113,000, Brooklyn Park ranks 187th of 560 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Maple Grove MN | 73,893 | $133K | 4.0% | 3.5% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 185 | Marana AZ | 65,523 | $113K | 4.9% | 4.5% | 13% | A− |
| 186 | Laguna Niguel CA | 64,107 | $140K | 6.4% | 7.1% | 6% | A− |
| 187 | Brooklyn Park MN | 83,543 | $90K | 9.5% | 4.0% | 10% | A− |
| 188 | Dundee Township IL | 64,737 | $98K | 7.9% | 4.8% | 14% | A− |
| 189 | Renton WA | 104,975 | $100K | 8.1% | 4.9% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 560 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Brooklyn Park, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
The towns next door employ 12% of Brooklyn Park
The biggest share goes to Maple Grove (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brooklyn Park workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Park | – | A− | A− | 21 min | $89,891 |
| Brooklyn Center | 3% | B− | A | 22 min | $72,535 |
| Coon Rapids | under 3% | B+ | A− | 23 min | $88,251 |
| Fridley | 3% | B− | A | 23 min | $77,680 |
| Osseo | under 3% | B− | A | 21 min | $62,119 |
| Maple Grove | 6% | A+ | B | 24 min | $132,731 |
| Champlin | under 3% | A | A− | 25 min | $116,102 |
| New Hope | under 3% | B | A− | 19 min | $77,662 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brooklyn Park’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 Brooklyn Park: questions
What is the median household income in Brooklyn Park?
$89,891 (±$4,113) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brooklyn Park?
9.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brooklyn Park?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brooklyn Park work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (18%, 11 mi), Maple Grove (6%, 5 mi), Plymouth (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brooklyn Park walkable?
Brooklyn Park is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brooklyn Park without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 40% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brooklyn Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brooklyn Park
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.