Hayward has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
5% of workers have no commute at all (Minnesota 18%). 51 jobs are based in Hayward, and 102 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any work in Hayward; the top destination outside it is Albert Lea (33%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hayward quiets down on a workday
On a workday 101 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 50 people come in from elsewhere.
About 200 people are in Hayward on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
Where Hayward goes to work
Where Hayward clocks in
16% of workers
11% 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 Hayward
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hayward, 2013 → 2023: 45 → 51. 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 Hayward’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 24 minutes each way for Hayward’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hayward workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 110 commuters (the 5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Hayward
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.
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 Hayward: questions
What is the median household income in Hayward?
$61,250 (±$16,413) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hayward?
12.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hayward?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hayward work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albert Lea (33%, 6 mi), Austin (16%, 14 mi), Rochester (11%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Hayward without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hayward, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hayward
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.