Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Mayer has higher household incomes than 90% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Mayer is better than 85% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (C−). 4.8% of residents live below the poverty line (Minnesota 9.3%). Hardly any stay in Mayer for work; outside it, Waconia is the main destination (10%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Mayer apart
Mayer is a place people come home to
There are 126 jobs based in Mayer, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Mayer has about 1,400 people in it, 44% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Mayer workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 23 across Minnesota. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 38 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.
Where Mayer’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Household income is its strongest input ($124,917, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mayer could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Mayer by day and by night
On a workday 1,239 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 115 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Mayer on a workday afternoon, 44% fewer than live here.
0.10 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.
From Mayer, about 28 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mayer workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,267 commuters (the 15% 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 people from Mayer work
Where Mayer clocks in
6% 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.
What work there is in Mayer: 126 jobs
126 jobs are based in Mayer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mayer, 2013 → 2023: 78 → 126. 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 Mayer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Mayer goes 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.
Driving is how Mayer gets around
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,494 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). 1.5% of Mayer households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Mayer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500, Mayer ranks 545th of 5,083 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Empire MN | 3,063 | $148K | 1.9% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | May Township MN | 2,638 | $137K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 543 | St. Albans Township OH | 2,623 | $91K | 8.6% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| 544 | Sharon WI | 2,124 | $96K | 2.5% | 1.2% | 2% | A |
| 545 | Mayer MN | 2,563 | $125K | 4.8% | 3.2% | 1% | A |
| 546 | Edgewood PA | 2,997 | $103K | 5.3% | 4.4% | 3% | A |
| 547 | Prairie Ronde Township MI | 2,402 | $126K | 3.7% | 3.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Mayer, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Around Mayer: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mayer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayer | – | A | C− | 28 min | $124,917 |
| Watertown Township | under 3% | A+ | C | 28 min | $107,500 |
| Camden Township | under 3% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Waconia Township | under 3% | A− | C | 30 min | $122,083 |
| Hollywood Township | under 3% | B+ | C+ | 26 min | $83,917 |
Same-state neighbors only. Camden Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mayer’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 Mayer: questions
What is the median household income in Mayer?
$124,917 (±$6,429) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mayer?
4.8%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mayer?
28 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mayer work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waconia (10%, 6 mi), Eden Prairie (6%, 22 mi), Minneapolis (6%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mayer walkable?
Mayer is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mayer without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mayer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mayer
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.