Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Most of Cotton Township commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Only 2% work in Cotton Township itself; outside it, Duluth draws the most (22%, 28 miles). There are 58 jobs in Cotton Township for 185 working residents. 8% of workers have no commute at all, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Cotton Township quiets down on a workday
On a workday 181 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 54 people come in from elsewhere.
About 330 people are in Cotton Township on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
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 Cotton Township’s residents
Where Cotton Township clocks in
22% 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.
What Cotton Township’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cotton Township, 2013 → 2023: 75 → 58. 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 Cotton Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 44 minutes in Cotton Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cotton Township workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 132 commuters (the 8% 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 Cotton Township to work
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.
Cotton Township and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cotton Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton Township | – | — | — | 44 min | $72,917 |
| Kelsey Township | under 2% | — | — | 44 min | — |
| Ellsburg Township | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Northland Township | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kelsey Township, Ellsburg Township and Northland Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cotton Township’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 Cotton Township: questions
What is the median household income in Cotton Township?
$72,917 (±$18,204) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cotton Township?
6.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cotton Township?
44 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cotton Township work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Duluth (22%, 28 mi), Virginia (8%, 28 mi), Cloquet (8%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Cotton Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cotton Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cotton Township
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.