With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Elgin works elsewhere
The two grades for Elgin are B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 146 jobs are based in Elgin, against 684 working residents. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 0.6 in Rochester.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Elgin: the figures worth knowing
38% of Elgin works in Rochester
262 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Rochester, 14 miles away. That’s 13 times as many as work in Elgin itself. The commute map ↓
Elgin is a place people come home to
There are 146 jobs based in Elgin, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Elgin has about 600 people in it, 47% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 684 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Elgin
On income, poverty and job access, Elgin is better than 61% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Elgin’s grade up ($92,083, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out: Elgin’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Elgin could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
38% of working residents work in Rochester
Where Elgin clocks in
38% of workers
7% 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.
In and out of Elgin on a workday
On a workday 663 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 125 people come in from elsewhere.
About 600 people are in Elgin on a workday afternoon, 47% 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.
What Elgin’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elgin, 2013 → 2023: 152 → 146. 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 Elgin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Elgin’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elgin workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 546 commuters (the 13% 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.
Half of Elgin commutes less than 14 miles
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.
Elgin is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elgin is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Elgin 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 625 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 58% 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). 5.4% of Elgin households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elgin’s commuters take a bus or train.
865th of 3,771: where Elgin ranks among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 863 | Howe IN | 1,092 | $60K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 2% | B |
| 864 | Cleveland AL | 1,262 | $71K | 4.0% | 5.6% | 6% | B |
| 865 | Elgin MN | 1,137 | $92K | 7.6% | 5.2% | 3% | B |
| 866 | Dickeyville WI | 1,085 | $71K | 5.3% | 0.2% | 2% | B |
| 867 | Ashkum Township IL | 1,381 | $90K | 4.0% | 1.5% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Elgin, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
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 Elgin: questions
What is the median household income in Elgin?
$92,083 (±$14,523) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elgin?
7.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elgin?
26 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elgin work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rochester (38%, 14 mi), Lake City (9%, 22 mi), Plainview (7%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elgin walkable?
Elgin is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elgin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elgin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elgin
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.