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Garrison ConcourseGarrison Concourse · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Jobs & commute in Garrison

A job hub: Garrison has 2.3 jobs per working resident, and 190 people come in to work

10% of workers work from home, next to 18% for Minnesota as a whole. Garrison has 195 jobs, and 83 of its residents work somewhere. Only 6% work in Garrison; the top destination outside it is Brainerd (20%, 18 miles).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

The daily commute in and out of Garrison

On a workday 78 residents head out to work and 5 work right here.

78live here, work elsewhere
5live and work here
190work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night200
Workday310
200live here− 78head out to work+ 190come in to work= 310on a workday

About 310 people are in Garrison on a workday afternoon, 56% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
2.35jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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 commute map

Where Garrison’s workforce comes from

OnamiaGarrisonCrosby: 8 workers live here (4%)AitkinLittle FallsBrainerd: 13 workers live here (7%)BaxterSt. CloudMinnetonkaSt. PaulWealthwood Township: 5 workers live here (3%)Roosevelt Township: 17 workers live here (9%)Garrison Township: 16 workers live here (8%)Maple Grove Township: 18 workers live here (9%)Platte Lake Township: 7 workers live here (4%)Bay Lake Township: 9 workers live here (5%)Kathio TownshipFarm Island Township: 6 workers live here (3%)Maple Grove TownshipRoosevelt TownshipGarrison TownshipBrainerdBay Lake TownshipCrosbyGarrison
19%18
29%17
38%16
4
Brainerd18.2 mi away
7%13
55%9
6
Crosby14.6 mi away
4%8
74%7
83%6
9
Garrison (in town)right here
3%5
103%5
Everywhere elseother towns and states
47%91
The top trips

Where Garrison clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

The kinds of work in Garrison

Jobs based in GarrisonJobs Garrison residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%20%
Trade, transport & utilities22%16%
Services: health, schools, offices78%64%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less42%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month42%20%
Over $3,333 a month16%66%

Who does it

29 or younger27%24%
30 to 5433%41%
55 and older40%35%
−18%

Jobs based in Garrison, 2013 → 2023: 239 → 195. 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 Garrison’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

Garrison’s commute takes about 26 minutes

A year of commuting
199 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Garrison26 min
Minnesota23 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
10%

of Garrison workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Garrison gets to work
66%Drive alone
4%Carpool
9%Walk
21%Other

Share of the 67 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.

How far

Half of Garrison commutes less than 19 miles

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miBrainerd: 20% · 18.2 miKathio Township: 8% · 9.5 miOnamia: 5% · 17.5 miAitkin: 4% · 16.8 miSt. Cloud: 4% · 55.9 miMinnetonka: 4% · 96.1 miLittle Falls: 2% · 33.2 miBaxter: 2% · 21.7 miSt. Paul: 2% · 99.6 miBrainerd 20%Kathio Township 8%Onamia 5%Aitkin 4%St. Cloud 4%Garrison
GarrisonTop destinations (size = commuters)
17%Under 10 mi14 residents
37%10–24 mi31 residents
12%25–50 mi10 residents
34%Over 50 mi28 residents

About 34% 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Garrison: questions

What is the median household income in Garrison?

$51,250 (±$19,675) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Garrison?

12.8%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Garrison?

26 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Garrison work?

6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brainerd (20%, 18 mi), Kathio Township (8%, 10 mi), Onamia (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Garrison without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Garrison, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Garrison

Garrison home →

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.