Fewer people are out of work in Eagle Lake (1.2%) than in 93% of U.S. towns
Only 2% work in Eagle Lake itself; outside it, Mankato draws the most (43%, 5 miles). Eagle Lake grades A− for jobs and income and C for walkability. For 10% of workers, the job is at home; Minnesota has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Eagle Lake: the gist
43% of Eagle Lake works in Mankato
664 working residents, 43%, have their main job in Mankato, 4.7 miles away. That’s 22 times as many as work in Eagle Lake itself. The commute map ↓
Eagle Lake is a place people come home to
There are 268 jobs based in Eagle Lake, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Eagle Lake has about 2,100 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Eagle Lake residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Eagle Lake 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.
The figures behind Eagle Lake’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Eagle Lake is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #105 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Eagle Lake could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Commuting out of Eagle Lake: the destinations
Where Eagle Lake clocks in
43% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Eagle Lake
On a workday 1,508 residents head out to work, 34 work right here, and 234 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Eagle Lake on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
0.17 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.
The distance from Eagle Lake to work
About 17% 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.
About 18 minutes each way for Eagle Lake’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eagle Lake workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,588 commuters (the 10% 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: 40% of the jobs in Eagle Lake
268 jobs are based in Eagle Lake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eagle Lake, 2013 → 2023: 147 → 268. 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 Eagle Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from Eagle Lake start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Eagle Lake is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns, #226 of 273 in Minnesota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,756 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). 0.5% of Eagle Lake households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Eagle Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Eagle Lake is 620th of 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Independence MN | 3,763 | $187K | 1.1% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Deephaven MN | 3,794 | $198K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 18 | Greenfield MN | 2,962 | $154K | 1.2% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 618 | Tinicum Township PA | 3,810 | $122K | 3.0% | 4.8% | 8% | A− |
| 619 | Hudson Bend TX | 4,127 | $96K | 5.8% | 3.3% | 5% | A− |
| 620 | Eagle Lake MN | 3,357 | $97K | 6.2% | 1.2% | 2% | A− |
| 621 | Johnson Township IN | 4,430 | $96K | 6.2% | 0.4% | 9% | A− |
| 622 | Stanford Township MN | 2,389 | $104K | 6.0% | 2.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Eagle Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
How Eagle Lake compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Mankato Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Eagle Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagle Lake | – | A− | C | 18 min | $96,964 |
| Le Ray Township | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Mankato Township | 1% | B | C | 17 min | $113,269 |
Same-state neighbors only. Le Ray Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Eagle Lake’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 Eagle Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Eagle Lake?
$96,964 (±$15,824) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eagle Lake?
6.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eagle Lake?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eagle Lake work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mankato (43%, 5 mi), North Mankato (11%, 8 mi), St. Peter (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eagle Lake walkable?
Eagle Lake is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eagle Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eagle Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eagle 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. 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.