Photo: Myotus · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 7.3 jobs in Cass Lake for every working resident, and 1,401 people commute in
3% of workers work from home, next to 18% for Minnesota as a whole. Cass Lake has 1,450 jobs, against 199 working residents. About one in four work in Cass Lake itself; outside it, Pike Bay Township draws the most (18%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
In and out of Cass Lake on a workday
On a workday 150 residents head out to work and 49 work right here.
About 1,900 people are in Cass Lake on a workday afternoon, 185% more than live here.
7.3 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 towns that send workers to Cass Lake
Where Cass Lake clocks in
18% 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.
Most jobs in Cass Lake are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cass Lake, 2013 → 2023: 627 → 1,450. 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 Cass Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 14 minutes each way, quicker than most of Minnesota
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cass Lake workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 199 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 commute from Cass Lake, by distance
About 28% 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 Cass Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Cass Lake?
$48,250 (±$15,515) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cass Lake?
22.8%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cass Lake?
14 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cass Lake work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pike Bay Township (18%, 2 mi), Bemidji (11%, 15 mi), Shingobee Township (6%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Cass Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cass Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cass Lake
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.