Photo: Allmightyduck · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Lakeville top those of 93% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Lakeville itself; outside it, Minneapolis draws the most (14%, 20 miles). Poverty touches 2.9% of residents; Minnesota has 9.3%. Jobs and income earn Lakeville A+; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lakeville’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lakeville is among the top U.S. towns, #18 of 273 in Minnesota. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lakeville’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lakeville stays A+.
The daily flow of workers through Lakeville
On a workday 32,892 residents head out to work, 4,152 work right here, and 13,642 people come in from elsewhere.
About 60,000 people are in Lakeville on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.48 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Lakeville’s residents
Where Lakeville clocks in
14% of workers
7% 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.
The 17,794 jobs based in Lakeville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lakeville, 2014 → 2024: 13,591 → 17,794. 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 Lakeville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 24 minutes each way for Lakeville’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lakeville workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 30,751 commuters (the 23% 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.
Half of Lakeville commutes less than 15 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.
Most trips from Lakeville start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lakeville is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #160 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Lakeville 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 40,138 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 2% 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). 3.5% of Lakeville households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lakeville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lakeville places 1st of 578 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 55,000 to 107,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Maple Grove MN | 73,893 | $133K | 4.0% | 3.5% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Eden Prairie MN | 63,075 | $130K | 4.6% | 3.6% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Woodbury MN | 81,558 | $125K | 5.3% | 3.9% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 578 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 50% | 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 Lakeville, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Lakeville and its neighbors: 11% work next door
The biggest share goes to Burnsville (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lakeville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeville | – | A+ | B | 24 min | $139,041 |
| Eureka Township | under 3% | A | C+ | 27 min | $100,000 |
| Farmington | under 3% | A | C+ | 28 min | $123,673 |
| Credit River | under 3% | A+ | C | 24 min | $143,125 |
| Apple Valley | 5% | A | A | 25 min | $97,673 |
| Burnsville | 6% | B+ | A− | 23 min | $87,024 |
| Empire | under 3% | A+ | C+ | 30 min | $147,700 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lakeville’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 Lakeville: questions
What is the median household income in Lakeville?
$139,041 (±$6,972) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lakeville?
2.9%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lakeville?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lakeville work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (14%, 20 mi), Bloomington (7%, 11 mi), Burnsville (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lakeville walkable?
Lakeville is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lakeville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lakeville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lakeville
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.