Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Jobs, income and commuting in Le Center, MN
Jobs & income B: better than 56% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #178 of 273 in Minnesota.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns · #93 of 273 in Minnesota.
Household incomes here are higher than in 57% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 18 minutes each way (Minnesota 23, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Le Center; the top destination outside it is Mankato (11%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Le Center
Le Center trades workers with the towns around it
Le Center has about as many jobs (1,130) as working residents (1,147), but they are mostly different people: 946 residents leave for work each day while 929 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Le Center are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Le Center workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Le Center are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
What’s behind Le Center’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Le Center is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #178 of 273 in Minnesota. The poverty rate holds Le Center’s grade up (5.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Le Center could be anywhere from C to A.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 946 residents head out to work, 201 work right here, and 929 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.99 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.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Minnesota
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Le Center workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,320 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Minnesota: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
11% of working residents work in Mankato
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Le Center clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Le Center makes things: 34% of its jobs are in goods
1,130 jobs are based in Le Center. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Le Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Le Center, 2013 → 2023: 1,019 → 1,130. 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.
Half of Le Center commutes less than 18 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 15% 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.
Le Center is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Le Center is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #93 of 273 in Minnesota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,373 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). 7.1% of Le Center households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Le Center’s commuters take a bus or train.
Le Center is 1,868th of 4,868 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,400 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Le Center, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Greenfield MN | 2,962 | $154K | 1.2% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Empire MN | 3,063 | $148K | 1.9% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | May Township MN | 2,638 | $137K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,866 | Milford NY | 2,748 | $73K | 6.8% | 1.8% | 8% | B |
| 1,867 | College Township OH | 2,586 | $101K | 12.4% | 3.5% | 13% | B |
| 1,868 | Le Center MN | 2,524 | $81K | 5.0% | 5.2% | 18% | B |
| 1,869 | Twin Township OH | 3,378 | $58K | 5.6% | 0.5% | 1% | B |
| 1,870 | Newton Township OH | 3,230 | $73K | 15.9% | 1.9% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,868 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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.
Le Center and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lexington Township (2%). Darker towns draw more of Le Center’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Le Center workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Center | – | B | A− | 18 min | $80,673 |
| Lexington Township | 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lexington Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Le Center: questions
What is the median household income in Le Center?
$80,673 (±$21,781) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Le Center?
5.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Le Center?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Le Center work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mankato (11%, 19 mi), Le Sueur (7%, 10 mi), St. Peter (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Le Center walkable?
Le Center is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Le Center 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 Le Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Le Center
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.