About half of Detroit Township’s working residents commute to Detroit Lakes
Hardly any work in Detroit Township; the top destination outside it is Detroit Lakes (48%, 5 miles). Detroit Township grades B for jobs and income and C for walkability. At home: 9% of workers have no commute at all (Minnesota 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Detroit Township
Nearly half of Detroit Township works in Detroit Lakes
392 working residents, 48%, have their main job in Detroit Lakes, 4.8 miles away across the town line. That’s 48 times as many as work in Detroit Township itself. The commute map ↓
Detroit Township is a place people come home to
There are 196 jobs based in Detroit Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Detroit Township has about 1,400 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Detroit Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 38 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 815 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Detroit Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Detroit Township is better than 61% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Detroit Township’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Detroit Township could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Where Detroit Township’s working residents head each day
Where Detroit Township clocks in
48% of workers
9% of workers
2% 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 a workday changes Detroit Township
On a workday 808 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 189 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Detroit Township on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.24 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
How long Detroit Township spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Detroit Township workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 941 commuters (the 9% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 56% of the jobs in Detroit Township
196 jobs are based in Detroit Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Detroit Township, 2013 → 2023: 235 → 196. 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 Detroit Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Detroit Township
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 Detroit Township, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Detroit Township is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Detroit Township near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,033 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.6% of Detroit Township households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Detroit Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Detroit Township ranks: 1,615th of 5,509 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Tonka Bay MN | 1,561 | $156K | 3.5% | 9.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | May Township MN | 2,638 | $137K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Stillwater Township MN | 1,831 | $162K | 3.4% | 3.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,613 | Little River-Academy TX | 2,020 | $76K | 9.0% | 3.2% | 5% | B |
| 1,614 | Otto Township IL | 2,060 | $80K | 5.5% | 4.6% | 4% | B |
| 1,615 | Detroit Township MN | 1,974 | $94K | 9.6% | 2.1% | 1% | B |
| 1,616 | Camden Township OH | 1,513 | $60K | 4.7% | 2.5% | 3% | B |
| 1,617 | Upper Fairfield Township PA | 1,798 | $79K | 6.1% | 0.6% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Detroit Township, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
51% of Detroit Township works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Detroit Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Township | – | B | C | 18 min | $93,587 |
| Detroit Lakes | 48% | C− | A− | 14 min | $62,958 |
| Lake View Township | 1% | B+ | C− | 21 min | $86,979 |
| Richwood Township | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Erie Township | 2% | C+ | C | 20 min | $74,286 |
| Audubon Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Richwood Township and Audubon Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Detroit Lakes. Darker towns draw more of Detroit 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 Detroit Township: questions
What is the median household income in Detroit Township?
$93,587 (±$8,967) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Detroit Township?
9.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Detroit Township?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Detroit Township work?
1% work in town.
Is Detroit Township walkable?
Detroit Township is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Detroit Township without a car?
1% 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 Detroit Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Detroit 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. 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.