Mabel at work: jobs, income and the commute
Only 7% stay in Mabel for work; outside it, Rochester is the main destination (16%, 49 miles). At home: 1% of workers have no commute at all (Minnesota 18%). Working residents average 30 minutes each way (Minnesota 23, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Mabel
Mabel’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Mabel is Rochester, 49 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (52) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Mabel workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Mabel workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 23 across Minnesota. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical 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; with 325 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Short hops and long hauls from Mabel
About 18% 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.
A commute of about 30 minutes in Mabel
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mabel workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 351 commuters (the 1% 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.
Mabel by day and by night
On a workday 302 residents head out to work, 23 work right here, and 174 people come in from elsewhere.
About 570 people are in Mabel on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.61 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 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Mabel: the destinations
Where Mabel clocks in
16% 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.
What Mabel’s employers do
197 jobs are based in Mabel.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mabel, 2013 → 2023: 195 → 197. 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 Mabel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Mabel: questions
What is the median household income in Mabel?
$59,392 (±$5,615) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mabel?
8.4%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mabel?
30 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mabel work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rochester (16%, 49 mi), Rushford (12%, 20 mi), Lanesboro (10%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mabel without a car?
0% 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 Mabel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mabel
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.