Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0At 0.6%, unemployment in Morris is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
About half stay in Morris for work; outside it, Darnen Township is the main destination (7%, 4 miles). The two grades for Morris are C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. 8% of workers work from home, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Morris
Commutes from Morris are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
Morris is where the jobs are
Morris has 3,587 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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 Morris
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Morris is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #219 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment holds Morris’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Morris could be anywhere from C to B−.
A commute of about 13 minutes in Morris
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morris workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,308 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.
The daily flow of workers through Morris
On a workday 1,076 residents head out to work, 1,102 work right here, and 2,485 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,600 people are in Morris on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.6 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.
The daily trip into Morris
Where Morris clocks in
3% 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.
Inside Morris’ 3,587 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morris, 2013 → 2023: 4,340 → 3,587. 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 Morris’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Morris’ commute, mile by mile
About 21% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Morris
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Morris is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #51 of 273 in Minnesota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 8.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,511 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). 7.3% of Morris households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Morris’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,696 U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000, Morris comes 2,324th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Independence MN | 3,763 | $187K | 1.1% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Deephaven MN | 3,794 | $198K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 19 | Elko New Market MN | 5,300 | $152K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,322 | Northfield VT | 5,873 | $72K | 12.5% | 2.9% | 24% | C+ |
| 2,323 | Osceola IA | 5,679 | $68K | 6.4% | 6.0% | 44% | C+ |
| 2,324 | Morris MN | 5,150 | $68K | 15.9% | 0.6% | 51% | C+ |
| 2,325 | Talent OR | 6,296 | $63K | 11.7% | 4.0% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,326 | Owosso Township MI | 4,786 | $57K | 13.6% | 3.2% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,696 | 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 Morris, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Morris and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Morris workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris | – | C+ | A | 13 min | $67,727 |
| Morris Township | under 2% | — | — | 13 min | — |
| Darnen Township | 7% | — | — | 9 min | — |
| Framnas Township | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Morris Township, Darnen Township and Framnas Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Darnen Township. Darker towns draw more of Morris’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 Morris: questions
What is the median household income in Morris?
$67,727 (±$10,090) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morris?
15.9%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morris?
13 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morris work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Darnen Township (7%, 4 mi), Hancock (4%, 8 mi), Fargo (3%, 99 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morris walkable?
Morris is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morris without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Morris, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morris
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.