Work, pay and getting to work in Lakefield
For 11% of workers, the job is at home (Minnesota 18%). The two grades for Lakefield are C for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in five work in Lakefield; the top destination outside it is Jackson (15%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Lakefield stands out on work
Fewer jobs are based in Lakefield than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Lakefield fell from 1,400 in 2013 to 634 in 2023, −55%. 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 ↓
Lakefield and Jackson trade workers both ways
Jackson is the top workplace for Lakefield residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Lakefield come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Lakefield
57% of Lakefield residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in Lakefield pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 79% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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 828 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Lakefield
On income, poverty and job access, Lakefield is better than 33% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Lakefield’s grade up (10.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 24% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.5%) is left out: Lakefield’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, Lakefield could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Lakefield works in goods: 29% of its jobs
634 jobs are based in Lakefield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lakefield, 2013 → 2023: 1,400 → 634. 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 Lakefield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the trip to work from Lakefield ends
Where Lakefield clocks in
15% of workers
6% 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.
Who commutes out of Lakefield, and who commutes in
On a workday 657 residents head out to work, 171 work right here, and 463 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Lakefield on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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.
Lakefield’s commute takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lakefield workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 675 commuters (the 11% 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.
Where in the region Lakefield works
About 24% 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.
In Lakefield, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lakefield is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 758 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). 2.2% of Lakefield households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Lakefield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lakefield next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300: 3,198th of 5,760 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Tonka Bay MN | 1,561 | $156K | 3.5% | 9.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,196 | Warren Park IN | 1,509 | $43K | 19.2% | 9.9% | <1% | C |
| 3,197 | Ellis KS | 1,917 | $73K | 21.2% | 2.5% | 15% | C |
| 3,198 | Lakefield MN | 1,697 | $72K | 10.5% | 0.5% | 21% | C |
| 3,199 | Ash Grove MO | 1,532 | $58K | 11.0% | 4.0% | 8% | C |
| 3,200 | Drexel NC | 1,764 | $62K | 11.7% | 13.7% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | 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 Lakefield, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Next door to Lakefield
The biggest share goes to Hunter Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lakefield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakefield | – | C | B | 18 min | $71,648 |
| Heron Lake Township | 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Hunter Township | 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Heron Lake Township and Hunter Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lakefield’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 Lakefield: questions
What is the median household income in Lakefield?
$71,648 (±$7,442) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lakefield?
10.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lakefield?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lakefield work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (15%, 10 mi), Worthington (7%, 22 mi), Spirit Lake (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lakefield walkable?
Lakefield is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lakefield without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lakefield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lakefield
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.