How Merrifield works: jobs, income and commuting
Merrifield has 60 jobs; 67 of its residents have a job. Home is the office for 0% of workers, next to 18% for Minnesota as a whole. Hardly any stay in Merrifield for work; outside it, Brainerd is the main destination (15%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Merrifield on a workday afternoon
On a workday 67 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 60 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 (0.90 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.
Where Merrifield’s working residents head each day
Where Merrifield clocks in
15% 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 Merrifield’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Merrifield, 2013 → 2023: 40 → 60. 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 Merrifield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Merrifield
of Merrifield workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 81 commuters (the 0% 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.
Merrifield’s commute, mile by mile
About 34% 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.
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 Merrifield: questions
What is the median household income in Merrifield?
$39,572 (±$37,782) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Merrifield?
11.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Merrifield work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brainerd (15%, 8 mi), Baxter (12%, 10 mi), Lake Edward Township (6%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Merrifield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Merrifield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Merrifield
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.