Most of Hector commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
There are 217 jobs in Hector, and 490 of its residents work somewhere. Only 7% work in Hector itself; outside it, Hutchinson draws the most (18%, 19 miles). Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Hector, in a few figures
Fewer jobs are based in Hector than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Hector fell from 488 in 2013 to 217 in 2023, −56%. 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 ↓
Hector and Hutchinson trade workers both ways
Hutchinson is the top workplace for Hector residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Hector come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Hector workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 490 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Hector works in goods: 40% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hector, 2013 → 2023: 488 → 217. 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 Hector’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Hector’s residents
Where Hector clocks in
18% of workers
13% of workers
3% 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.
About 16 minutes to work from Hector
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hector workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 581 commuters (the 4% 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 a workday changes Hector
On a workday 456 residents head out to work, 34 work right here, and 183 people come in from elsewhere.
About 720 people are in Hector on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
Hector’s commute, mile by mile
About 27% 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.
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 Hector: questions
What is the median household income in Hector?
$63,362 (±$3,823) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hector?
8.8%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hector?
16 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hector work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hutchinson (18%, 19 mi), Buffalo Lake (13%, 5 mi), Glencoe (3%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Hector without a car?
0% 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 Hector, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hector
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.