Photo: BpA9543 · CC BY-SA 4.0Minneapolis has higher unemployment (5.9%) than 73% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 22 minutes on average, next to 23 for Minnesota and 26 for the U.S. Jobs and income earn Minneapolis B−; getting around on foot earns it A+. About two in five work in Minneapolis itself; outside it, St. Paul draws the most (9%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Minneapolis and work: the main findings
Minneapolis is where the jobs are
Minneapolis has 312,369 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in Minneapolis pay over $40,000 a year
75% of the jobs based in Minneapolis pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
A lot of Minneapolis works from home
26% of Minneapolis workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Minneapolis
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Minneapolis is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #186 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car holds Minneapolis’ grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Minneapolis could be anywhere from B− to B.
Minneapolis by day and by night
On a workday 110,569 residents head out to work, 75,456 work right here, and 236,913 people come in from elsewhere.
About 557,000 people are in Minneapolis on a workday afternoon, 29% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Most jobs in Minneapolis are in services
312,369 jobs are based in Minneapolis.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Minneapolis, 2013 → 2023: 302,238 → 312,369. 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 Minneapolis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Minneapolis: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Minneapolis workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 176,738 commuters (the 26% 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.
Commuting in to Minneapolis: where workers come from
Where Minneapolis clocks in
9% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Minneapolis’ commute, mile by mile
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.
Minneapolis is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Minneapolis is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #1 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Minneapolis 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 239,419 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 90% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 26.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 15.6% of Minneapolis households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Minneapolis’ commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Out of 46 U.S. towns of 301,000 to 581,000, Minneapolis comes 26th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 2 | Islip NY | 340,867 | $130K | 6.4% | 4.5% | 28% | A |
| 3 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Tampa FL | 413,554 | $75K | 15.5% | 4.9% | 42% | B− |
| 25 | Kansas City MO | 521,220 | $69K | 14.6% | 4.4% | 48% | B− |
| 26 | Minneapolis MN | 430,324 | $81K | 16.0% | 5.9% | 41% | B− |
| 27 | St. Paul MN | 306,684 | $73K | 15.6% | 5.4% | 28% | B− |
| 28 | Orlando FL | 333,888 | $72K | 14.7% | 5.2% | 36% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 Minneapolis, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work next door: 18% of Minneapolis’ workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Minneapolis workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis | – | B− | A+ | 22 min | $80,846 |
| Richfield | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 23 min | $85,132 |
| St. Paul | 9% | B− | A+ | 21 min | $73,394 |
| St. Anthony | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 19 min | $97,363 |
| Golden Valley | 2% | A− | A | 20 min | $108,772 |
| St. Louis Park | 3% | A | A | 20 min | $101,648 |
| Brooklyn Center | under 2% | B− | A | 22 min | $72,535 |
| Robbinsdale | under 2% | B | A | 20 min | $88,252 |
| Fridley | under 2% | B− | A | 23 min | $77,680 |
| Edina | 4% | A | A− | 20 min | $128,767 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to St. Paul. Darker towns draw more of Minneapolis’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 Minneapolis: questions
What is the median household income in Minneapolis?
$80,846 (±$1,824) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Minneapolis?
16.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Minneapolis?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Minneapolis work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Paul (9%, 8 mi), Bloomington (5%, 10 mi), Edina (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Minneapolis walkable?
Minneapolis is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.0 out of 20, and 20% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Minneapolis without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 90% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Minneapolis, from the people who make the trip.
More of Minneapolis
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.