Photo: Lorie Shaull · CC BY-SA 4.0About half of Brookston’s working residents commute to Cloquet
35 jobs are based in Brookston, and 24 of its residents work somewhere. Only 4% work in Brookston itself; outside it, Cloquet draws the most (50%, 11 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 32 minutes, next to 23 for Minnesota and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Brookston on a workday afternoon
On a workday 23 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 34 people come in from elsewhere.
About 120 people are in Brookston on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 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.
The towns that employ Brookston’s residents
Where Brookston clocks in
8% of workers
8% 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.
In Brookston, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookston, 2013 → 2023: 44 → 35. 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 Brookston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes each way, longer than most of Minnesota
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookston workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 19 commuters (the 14% 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 Brookston to work
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 Brookston: questions
What is the median household income in Brookston?
$52,500 (±$23,589) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookston?
14.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookston?
32 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookston work?
4% work in town.
Can you get around Brookston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookston
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.