Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Heron Lake commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
For 5% of workers, the job is at home, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%. There are 116 jobs in Heron Lake, and 275 of its residents work somewhere. Only 7% work in Heron Lake itself; outside it, Worthington draws the most (15%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Heron Lake in brief
Time on the road from Heron Lake: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Heron Lake workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 311 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.
Heron Lake quiets down on a workday
On a workday 257 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 98 people come in from elsewhere.
About 430 people are in Heron Lake on a workday afternoon, 27% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where Heron Lake’s working residents head each day
Where Heron Lake clocks in
10% 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.
What Heron Lake’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Heron Lake, 2014 → 2024: 131 → 116. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Heron Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Heron Lake goes to work
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Work in the towns next to Heron Lake
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Heron Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heron Lake | – | — | — | 18 min | $68,000 |
| Weimer Township | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Weimer Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Heron Lake’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 2024, 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 Heron Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Heron Lake?
$68,000 (±$11,759) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Heron Lake?
9.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Heron Lake?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Heron Lake work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worthington (15%, 18 mi), Windom (10%, 11 mi), Lakefield (7%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Heron Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Heron Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Heron Lake
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.