Households in Fosston earn less than those in 85% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 25.6% of residents, next to 9.3% for Minnesota as a whole. Fosston grades D− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 6% of workers work from home, next to 18% for Minnesota as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Fosston stands out on work
Fosston’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Fosston is Crookston, 42 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (47) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Fosston than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Fosston fell from 1,046 in 2013 to 705 in 2023, −33%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Fosston are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 61 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 530 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Fosston’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Fosston is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Fosston’s grade.
Unemployment (10.0%) is left out: Fosston’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Fosston could be anywhere from D− to D.
How many miles Fosston commutes
About 25% 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.
The 705 jobs based in Fosston
705 jobs are based in Fosston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fosston, 2013 → 2023: 1,046 → 705. 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 Fosston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 15 minutes from Fosston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fosston workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 484 commuters (the 6% 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.
Who works in Fosston, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 389 residents head out to work, 141 work right here, and 564 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Fosston on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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.
9% of working residents work in Crookston
Where Fosston clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Fosston
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fosston is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 7.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 513 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). 10.3% of Fosston households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Fosston’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Fosston compares with U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,524 | Cooper Township MO | 1,784 | $53K | 23.5% | 4.1% | 16% | D− |
| 5,525 | Grand Ronde OR | 1,549 | $53K | 24.8% | 4.0% | 25% | D− |
| 5,526 | Fosston MN | 1,383 | $53K | 25.6% | 10.0% | 27% | D− |
| 5,527 | Beulaville NC | 1,176 | $37K | 26.5% | 2.9% | 11% | D− |
| 5,528 | Konawa OK | 1,242 | $34K | 24.6% | 3.0% | 10% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 Fosston, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Around Fosston: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fosston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fosston | – | D− | A− | 15 min | $52,500 |
| Rosebud Township | under 2% | — | — | 12 min | — |
| Brandsvold Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Rosebud Township and Brandsvold Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fosston’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 Fosston: questions
What is the median household income in Fosston?
$52,500 (±$8,558) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fosston?
25.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fosston?
15 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fosston work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Crookston (9%, 42 mi), Thief River Falls (6%, 41 mi), Bagley (5%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fosston walkable?
Fosston is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fosston without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fosston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fosston
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.