Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Motley has 2.8 jobs for every working resident: 702 people commute in to work
About one in ten work in Motley itself; outside it, Staples draws the most (10%, 9 miles). Employers in Motley report 729 jobs, against 261 working residents. For 9% of workers, the job is at home, against 18% across Minnesota.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Motley stands out on work
Motley is where the jobs are
Motley has 729 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,200 people are in town, 68% more than the 690 who live here. Day and night ↓
Motley makes and builds things
59% of the jobs based in Motley are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Motley residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
The quickest commute around
Motley’s 20-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 25 to 31 minutes. Next door ↓
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 261 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Motley nearly doubles on a workday
On a workday 234 residents head out to work and 27 work right here.
About 1,200 people are in Motley on a workday afternoon, 68% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Goods, not services: 59% of the jobs in Motley
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Motley, 2013 → 2023: 798 → 729. 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 Motley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Motley live
Where Motley clocks in
10% of workers
10% of workers
8% 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.
How long Motley spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Motley workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 236 commuters (the 9% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Motley
About 27% 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.
The towns around Motley
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Motley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motley | – | — | — | 20 min | $47,222 |
| Motley Township | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| May Township | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Villard Township | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Motley Township, May Township and Villard Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Motley’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 Motley: questions
What is the median household income in Motley?
$47,222 (±$12,779) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Motley?
11.7%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Motley?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Motley work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Staples (10%, 9 mi), Little Falls (10%, 28 mi), Brainerd (8%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Motley without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Motley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Motley
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.