For about half of its working residents, Medford is a commute to Owatonna
Household incomes here are higher than in 83% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Medford is better than 82% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (C). Home is the office for 8% of workers, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Medford: the gist
Fewer jobs are based in Medford than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Medford fell from 830 in 2013 to 318 in 2023, −62%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Most Medford residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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 581 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Medford’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Household income is its strongest input ($108,250, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (3.3%) is left out: Medford’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, Medford could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Where the trip to work from Medford ends
Where Medford clocks in
46% of workers
11% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Medford
318 jobs are based in Medford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Medford, 2013 → 2023: 830 → 318. 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 Medford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Medford commutes less than 8 miles
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.
How a workday changes Medford
On a workday 565 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 302 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Medford on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.55 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 Medford, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Medford workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 632 commuters (the 8% 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.
In Medford, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 684 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). 2.1% of Medford households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Medford’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Medford ranks: 526th of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 524 | Casco WI | 1,170 | $97K | 2.3% | 0.5% | 1% | A− |
| 525 | Berry WI | 1,138 | $84K | 2.2% | 1.0% | <1% | A− |
| 526 | Medford MN | 1,377 | $108K | 4.9% | 3.3% | 3% | A− |
| 527 | Barre WI | 1,262 | $106K | 4.3% | 0.9% | 1% | A− |
| 528 | Riverside IA | 1,086 | $84K | 2.3% | 2.0% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Medford, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Around Medford: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Medford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medford | – | A− | C | 21 min | $108,250 |
| Medford Township | under 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Medford Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Medford’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 Medford: questions
What is the median household income in Medford?
$108,250 (±$15,974) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Medford?
4.9%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Medford?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Medford work?
3% work in town.
Is Medford walkable?
Medford is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Medford without a car?
0% 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 Medford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Medford
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.