Hotel Kaddatz · Public domainUnemployment in Fergus Falls (7.2%) is higher than in 84% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 7% of workers (Minnesota 18%). For jobs and income Fergus Falls is better than 22% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (A−). Household incomes here are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Fergus Falls stands out on work
Fergus Falls is the work center of its corner
Every town that borders Fergus Falls (Fergus Falls Township, Buse Township, Aurdal Township, Orwell Township and Carlisle Township) has fewer jobs than working residents, while Fergus Falls has 1.6 per resident. Next door ↓
Commutes from Fergus Falls are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker, and quicker than any town next door (16 to 21 minutes). 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 Fergus Falls’ Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Fergus Falls’ grade up (9.1%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fergus Falls could be anywhere from D to C+.
The trip to work from Fergus Falls: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fergus Falls workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,105 commuters (the 7% 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.
Fergus Falls fills up on a workday
On a workday 2,165 residents head out to work, 3,559 work right here, and 5,311 people come in from elsewhere.
About 17,000 people are in Fergus Falls on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Who travels to work in Fergus Falls, and from where
Where Fergus Falls clocks in
3% of workers
1% of workers
1% 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 kinds of work in Fergus Falls
8,870 jobs are based in Fergus Falls.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fergus Falls, 2013 → 2023: 9,159 → 8,870. 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 Fergus Falls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Fergus Falls, by distance
About 22% 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.
Fergus Falls is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 8.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,583 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). 10.0% of Fergus Falls households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Fergus Falls’ commuters take a bus or train.
1,920th of 2,227: where Fergus Falls ranks among U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 4 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Mendota Heights MN | 11,475 | $133K | 2.8% | 1.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Victoria MN | 12,447 | $196K | 2.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,918 | Winchendon MA | 10,620 | $76K | 18.5% | 6.7% | 11% | C− |
| 1,919 | Clarkston GA | 14,431 | $49K | 34.4% | 8.1% | 1% | C− |
| 1,920 | Fergus Falls MN | 14,246 | $56K | 9.1% | 7.2% | 62% | C− |
| 1,921 | Maryville MO | 10,092 | $53K | 24.4% | 2.7% | 46% | C− |
| 1,922 | Elizabethton TN | 14,350 | $47K | 18.8% | 5.5% | 21% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Fergus Falls, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Fergus Falls and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Fergus Falls Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fergus Falls workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fergus Falls | – | C− | A− | 13 min | $56,162 |
| Fergus Falls Township | 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Buse Township | under 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Aurdal Township | 1% | B+ | C− | 18 min | $123,229 |
| Orwell Township | under 1% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Carlisle Township | under 1% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Fergus Falls Township, Buse Township, Orwell Township and Carlisle Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fergus Falls’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 Fergus Falls: questions
What is the median household income in Fergus Falls?
$56,162 (±$5,165) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fergus Falls?
9.1%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fergus Falls?
13 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fergus Falls work?
62% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fargo (3%, 54 mi), Wahpeton (1%, 26 mi), Detroit Lakes (1%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fergus Falls walkable?
Fergus Falls is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fergus Falls without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fergus Falls, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fergus Falls
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.