John T. Chyphers House · Photo: Elkman · CC BY-SA 3.0Lakeland has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
For jobs and income Lakeland is better than 96% of U.S. towns (A+); for walkability it is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (B). Lakeland has 358 jobs; 802 of its residents have a job. Household incomes here are higher than in 77% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lakeland: the figures worth knowing
Lakeland’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lakeland’s grade. It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (4.9%) is left out: Lakeland’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, Lakeland could be anywhere from A to A+.
Jobs in Lakeland: what the 358 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lakeland, 2013 → 2023: 292 → 358. 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 Lakeland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Lakeland: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 780 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 336 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Lakeland 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 2023, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in St. Paul
Where Lakeland clocks in
14% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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 trip to work from Lakeland: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lakeland workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 662 commuters (the 20% 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.
The distance from Lakeland to work
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.
Most of Lakeland commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 829 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.1% of Lakeland households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Lakeland’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Lakeland is 129th of 5,381 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 127 | Cavalero WA | 1,591 | $148K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| 128 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 129 | Lakeland MN | 1,659 | $100K | 3.3% | 4.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 130 | Chester NJ | 1,689 | $172K | 6.4% | 2.8% | 9% | A+ |
| 131 | Bell Acres PA | 1,454 | $166K | 5.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | 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 Lakeland, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Next door to Lakeland
The biggest share goes to Hudson (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lakeland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland | – | A+ | B | 25 min | $100,132 |
| Lakeland Shores | under 3% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Lake St. Croix Beach | under 3% | A− | B+ | 23 min | $102,159 |
| West Lakeland Township | under 3% | A+ | B− | 23 min | $216,310 |
| Afton | under 3% | A | C | 28 min | $133,305 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lakeland Shores: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lakeland’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 Lakeland: questions
What is the median household income in Lakeland?
$100,132 (±$11,699) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lakeland?
3.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lakeland?
25 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lakeland work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Paul (14%, 16 mi), Minneapolis (9%, 24 mi), Stillwater (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lakeland walkable?
Lakeland is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lakeland without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lakeland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lakeland
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.