Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Households in Crookston earn less than those in 78% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 3% of workers; Minnesota has 18%. The poverty rate is 15.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota. For jobs and income Crookston is better than 29% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Crookston, in a few figures
A lot of Crookston workers cross into North Dakota
18% of Crookston workers work outside Minnesota, most of them in North Dakota, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Few Crookston workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Crookston 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 ↓
Crookston’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Crookston is Grand Forks, ND, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (238) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Crookston
Unemployment holds Crookston’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($57,315, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Crookston could be anywhere from D to B−.
8% of working residents work in Grand Forks
Where Crookston clocks in
8% of workers
3% 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.
How long Crookston spends getting to work: 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 Crookston workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,700 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.
How far Crookston’s workers travel
About 19% 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.
In and out of Crookston on a workday
On a workday 1,221 residents head out to work, 1,724 work right here, and 2,454 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,600 people are in Crookston on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.42 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 4,178 jobs based in Crookston
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Crookston, 2013 → 2023: 4,815 → 4,178. 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 Crookston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Crookston is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 7.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,831 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 11.1% of Crookston households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Crookston’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,368th of 3,083: where Crookston ranks among U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Elko New Market MN | 5,300 | $152K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Albertville MN | 8,544 | $133K | 1.1% | 0.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Credit River MN | 5,644 | $143K | 2.1% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,366 | Moab UT | 5,206 | $62K | 15.9% | 2.9% | 60% | C |
| 2,367 | Crystal Lake FL | 5,451 | $49K | 26.3% | 4.1% | 2% | C |
| 2,368 | Crookston MN | 7,375 | $57K | 15.6% | 3.4% | 59% | C |
| 2,369 | Watertown NY | 5,364 | $70K | 7.5% | 11.0% | 11% | C |
| 2,370 | Old Orchard Beach ME | 9,533 | $60K | 14.9% | 6.8% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Crookston, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Crookston and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Crookston Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Crookston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crookston | – | C | A | 17 min | $57,315 |
| Crookston Township | 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Lowell Township | under 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Fairfax Township | under 1% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Andover Township | under 1% | — | — | 15 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Crookston Township, Lowell Township, Fairfax Township and Andover Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Crookston’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 Crookston: questions
What is the median household income in Crookston?
$57,315 (±$9,094) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Crookston?
15.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Crookston?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Crookston work?
59% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Forks (8%, 24 mi), Fargo (3%, 64 mi), Thief River Falls (3%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Crookston walkable?
Crookston is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Crookston without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Crookston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Crookston
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.