Hopkins Commercial Historic District · Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Hopkins has higher unemployment (6.4%) than 78% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 26.2 in Minneapolis. Jobs and income earn Hopkins B−; getting around on foot earns it A+. The average commute takes 19 minutes each way (Minnesota 23, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Hopkins stands out on work
Most Hopkins residents work close to home
69% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Hopkins and Minneapolis trade workers both ways
Minneapolis is the top workplace for Hopkins residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Hopkins come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Hopkins draws workers from far and wide
The 11,044 jobs in Hopkins are filled from a wide area. Hopkins’ own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 36%; the other 58% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Hopkins: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hopkins is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #185 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car holds Hopkins’ grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hopkins could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Half of Hopkins commutes less than 7 miles
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.
19% of working residents work in Minneapolis
Where Hopkins clocks in
19% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
A workday in Hopkins: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 8,210 residents head out to work, 615 work right here, and 10,429 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Hopkins on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
71% of the jobs in Hopkins pay over $3,333 a month
11,044 jobs are based in Hopkins.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hopkins, 2014 → 2024: 10,922 → 11,044. 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 Hopkins’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Hopkins spends getting to work: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hopkins workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,196 commuters (the 21% 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.
Hopkins is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hopkins is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #9 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Hopkins near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,374 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 84% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 11.0% of Hopkins households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Hopkins’ commuters take a bus or train.
Hopkins next to U.S. towns of 14,000 to 26,000: 1,087th of 1,760 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Hugo MN | 17,167 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Otsego MN | 24,525 | $120K | 3.5% | 1.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,085 | Buford GA | 18,780 | $69K | 12.6% | 4.5% | 11% | B− |
| 1,086 | Zachary LA | 20,621 | $84K | 8.5% | 6.9% | 8% | B− |
| 1,087 | Hopkins MN | 19,523 | $75K | 12.1% | 6.4% | 7% | B− |
| 1,088 | Bryn Mawr-Skyway WA | 17,638 | $91K | 13.3% | 7.9% | 1% | B− |
| 1,089 | Biddeford ME | 22,399 | $72K | 15.5% | 3.1% | 18% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,760 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Hopkins, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Hopkins and its neighbors: 19% work next door
The biggest share goes to Minnetonka (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hopkins workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hopkins | – | B− | A+ | 19 min | $75,234 |
| Minnetonka | 9% | A | A− | 19 min | $119,517 |
| St. Louis Park | 6% | A | A | 20 min | $101,648 |
| Edina | 4% | A | A− | 20 min | $128,767 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hopkins’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 Hopkins: questions
What is the median household income in Hopkins?
$75,234 (±$5,847) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hopkins?
12.1%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hopkins?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hopkins work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (19%, 7 mi), Minnetonka (9%, 3 mi), Eden Prairie (7%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Hopkins walkable?
Hopkins is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hopkins without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 84% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hopkins, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hopkins
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. 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.