Photo: Lorie Shaull · CC BY 2.0About half of Helga Township’s working residents commute to Bemidji
Only 2% work in Helga Township; the top destination outside it is Bemidji (45%, 8 miles). The two grades for Helga Township are B for jobs and income and D for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Helga Township at work: what stands out
Nearly half of Helga Township works in Bemidji
341 working residents, 45%, have their main job in Bemidji, 8.5 miles away. That’s 23 times as many as work in Helga Township itself. The commute map ↓
Helga Township is a place people come home to
There are 138 jobs based in Helga Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Helga Township has about 1,200 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 753 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Helga Township
On income, poverty and job access, Helga Township is better than 63% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Helga Township’s grade up (5.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.4%) is left out: Helga Township’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, Helga Township could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Where Helga Township’s working residents head each day
Where Helga Township clocks in
45% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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 daily flow of workers through Helga Township
On a workday 740 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 125 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Helga Township on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.18 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
49% of the jobs in Helga Township make or build things
138 jobs are based in Helga Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Helga Township, 2013 → 2023: 111 → 138. 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 Helga Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 24 minutes to work from Helga Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Helga Township workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 773 commuters (the 16% 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.
Half of Helga Township commutes less than 10 miles
About 18% 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.
For most of Helga Township, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Helga Township is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 2.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 922 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). 0.0% of Helga Township households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Helga Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Helga Township is 1,404th of 5,343 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Tonka Bay MN | 1,561 | $156K | 3.5% | 9.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,402 | Romancoke MD | 2,064 | $128K | 0.6% | 11.7% | 1% | B |
| 1,403 | Morrow OH | 2,223 | $82K | 6.6% | 5.3% | 2% | B |
| 1,404 | Helga Township MN | 1,807 | $99K | 5.3% | 1.4% | 2% | B |
| 1,405 | Cambridge Township PA | 1,422 | $82K | 4.2% | 3.4% | 2% | B |
| 1,406 | Walkerton IN | 2,074 | $65K | 6.4% | 2.5% | 22% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Helga Township, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
How Helga Township compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Bemidji Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Helga Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helga Township | – | B | D | 24 min | $98,500 |
| Rockwood Township | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Farden Township | 3% | C+ | D− | 20 min | $72,328 |
| Guthrie Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Bemidji Township | 4% | B− | B− | 19 min | $82,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Rockwood Township and Guthrie Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Helga Township’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 Helga Township: questions
What is the median household income in Helga Township?
$98,500 (±$10,477) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Helga Township?
5.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Helga Township?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Helga Township work?
2% work in town.
Is Helga Township walkable?
Helga Township is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 2.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Helga Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Helga Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Helga Township
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.