Photo: Myotus · CC BY-SA 4.0Milaca has lower household incomes than 88% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Milaca C; getting around on foot earns it A−. 16.9% of residents live below the poverty line (Minnesota 9.3%). 10% of workers work from home; Minnesota has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Milaca stands out on work
Where Milaca’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Milaca is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #238 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment holds Milaca’s grade up (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($49,588, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Milaca could be anywhere from D to B−.
A commute of about 33 minutes in Milaca
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milaca workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,487 commuters (the 10% 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.
Milaca on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,041 residents head out to work, 238 work right here, and 1,413 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,400 people are in Milaca on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 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.
7% of working residents work in Princeton
Where Milaca clocks in
7% 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.
The kinds of work in Milaca
1,651 jobs are based in Milaca.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milaca, 2013 → 2023: 1,523 → 1,651. 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 Milaca’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Milaca
About 22% 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.
Milaca 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, Milaca is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #85 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Milaca near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,644 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). 17.8% of Milaca households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Milaca’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Milaca ranks: 3,345th of 4,771 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Independence MN | 3,763 | $187K | 1.1% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Deephaven MN | 3,794 | $198K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 17 | Greenfield MN | 2,962 | $154K | 1.2% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,343 | Cleveland Township IN | 3,383 | $61K | 16.9% | 4.5% | 10% | C |
| 3,344 | Dannemora NY | 3,291 | $78K | 12.0% | 6.5% | 7% | C |
| 3,345 | Milaca MN | 3,041 | $50K | 16.9% | 3.1% | 19% | C |
| 3,346 | Landrum SC | 2,865 | $44K | 19.5% | 2.7% | 9% | C |
| 3,347 | Timber Township IL | 2,234 | $74K | 14.1% | 7.4% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Milaca, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
The towns around Milaca
The biggest share goes to Milaca Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Milaca workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milaca | – | C | A− | 33 min | $49,588 |
| Milaca Township | 2% | A− | C | 31 min | $99,583 |
| Borgholm Township | under 2% | B | C− | 31 min | $83,359 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Milaca’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 Milaca: questions
What is the median household income in Milaca?
$49,588 (±$5,343) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milaca?
16.9%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milaca?
33 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milaca work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Princeton (7%, 13 mi), St. Cloud (6%, 30 mi), Foley (3%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Milaca walkable?
Milaca is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Milaca without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milaca, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milaca
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.