Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Earning a living in Butterfield
Working residents average 17 minutes each way, where Minnesota has 23 and the U.S. 26. For 5% of workers, the job is at home, next to 18% for Minnesota as a whole. About one in ten work in Butterfield itself; outside it, St. James draws the most (15%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Butterfield, in a few figures
Butterfield and St. James trade workers both ways
St. James is the top workplace for Butterfield residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Butterfield come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Butterfield are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
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 254 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Out of Butterfield to work: where people go
Where Butterfield clocks in
15% 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.
Butterfield’s commute takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Butterfield workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 197 commuters (the 5% 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.
How many people are in Butterfield by day
On a workday 229 residents head out to work, 25 work right here, and 204 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 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.
62% of the jobs in Butterfield make or build things
229 jobs are based in Butterfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Butterfield, 2013 → 2023: 242 → 229. 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 Butterfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Butterfield
About 18% 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 Butterfield: questions
What is the median household income in Butterfield?
$64,083 (±$12,368) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Butterfield?
8.4%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Butterfield?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Butterfield work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. James (15%, 8 mi), Mankato (6%, 43 mi), Madelia (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Butterfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Butterfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Butterfield
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.