Photo: Jonathunder · CC BY-SA 3.0Work and commuting in Jackson
About two in five stay in Jackson for work; outside it, Lakefield is the main destination (5%, 10 miles). Jobs and income earn Jackson C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. Home is the office for 8% of workers; Minnesota has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Jackson apart on work
Jackson makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Jackson are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Jackson residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Jackson are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
The jobs in Jackson pay better than its residents’ jobs
73% of the jobs based in Jackson pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 57% of the jobs Jackson residents hold. 71% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Jackson. The jobs ↓
Jackson gains people on a workday
About 4,100 people are in Jackson on a workday afternoon, 23% more than the 3,300 who live here: 1,600 come in to work and 870 head out. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Jackson
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jackson is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #228 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment holds Jackson’s grade up (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jackson could be anywhere from D to B.
A place that makes things: 49% of Jackson’s jobs are in goods
2,306 jobs are based in Jackson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jackson, 2013 → 2023: 2,861 → 2,306. 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 Jackson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 16 minutes from Jackson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jackson workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,526 commuters (the 8% 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 Jackson
On a workday 867 residents head out to work, 679 work right here, and 1,627 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in Jackson on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Jackson: the destinations
Where Jackson clocks in
4% 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.
How many miles Jackson commutes
About 25% 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.
Getting around Jackson: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jackson is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #135 of 273 in Minnesota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 7.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,659 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). 6.9% of Jackson households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jackson’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Jackson ranks: 2,961st of 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Independence MN | 3,763 | $187K | 1.1% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Deephaven MN | 3,794 | $198K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 18 | Greenfield MN | 2,962 | $154K | 1.2% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,959 | Lincoln Beach OR | 2,434 | $74K | 9.8% | 3.6% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,960 | Lake Tansi TN | 4,437 | $58K | 13.9% | 2.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,961 | Jackson MN | 3,305 | $70K | 11.8% | 4.0% | 44% | C+ |
| 2,962 | Cockrell Hill TX | 3,638 | $52K | 11.2% | 11.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,963 | Mount Vernon TX | 2,610 | $72K | 10.7% | 4.9% | 16% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Jackson, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work in the towns next to Jackson
The biggest share goes to Des Moines Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jackson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | – | C+ | B+ | 16 min | $70,223 |
| Des Moines Township | 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Wisconsin Township | under 2% | — | — | 14 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Des Moines Township and Wisconsin Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jackson’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 Jackson: questions
What is the median household income in Jackson?
$70,223 (±$10,062) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jackson?
11.8%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jackson?
16 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jackson work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lakefield (5%, 10 mi), Windom (4%, 18 mi), Fairmont (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jackson walkable?
Jackson is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jackson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jackson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jackson
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.