Photo: Myotus · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer people are out of work in New Brighton (2.5%) than in 77% of U.S. towns
Only 6% work in New Brighton itself; outside it, Minneapolis draws the most (22%, 8 miles). New Brighton grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.2 in Minneapolis.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in New Brighton
New Brighton trades workers with the towns around it
New Brighton has about as many jobs (10,935) as working residents (10,584), but they are mostly different people: 9,982 residents leave for work each day while 10,333 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in New Brighton are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in New Brighton pay over $40,000 a year
76% of the jobs based in New Brighton pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Most New Brighton residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
New Brighton draws workers from far and wide
The 10,935 jobs in New Brighton are filled from a wide area. New Brighton’s own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 34%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
What’s behind New Brighton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, New Brighton is better than 86% of U.S. towns, #98 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.3%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Brighton could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Who commutes out of New Brighton, and who commutes in
On a workday 9,982 residents head out to work, 602 work right here, and 10,333 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 (1.03 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.
Factories, building and farms: 28% of the jobs in New Brighton
10,935 jobs are based in New Brighton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Brighton, 2013 → 2023: 9,392 → 10,935. 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 New Brighton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region New Brighton works
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 that employ New Brighton’s residents
Where New Brighton clocks in
22% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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.
Each way, about 20 minutes from New Brighton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Brighton workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,447 commuters (the 20% 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.
New Brighton 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, New Brighton is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #31 of 273 in Minnesota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,792 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, 54% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 4.9% of New Brighton households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of New Brighton’s commuters take a bus or train.
New Brighton is 400th of 1,658 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 30,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Prior Lake MN | 28,140 | $134K | 3.1% | 1.5% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Hugo MN | 17,167 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Otsego MN | 24,525 | $120K | 3.5% | 1.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 398 | Aberdeen Township NJ | 19,535 | $122K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 4% | A |
| 399 | Granite Bay CA | 21,673 | $185K | 5.1% | 4.5% | 6% | A |
| 400 | New Brighton MN | 22,159 | $89K | 8.3% | 2.5% | 6% | A |
| 401 | North Ogden UT | 21,689 | $114K | 5.3% | 2.5% | 5% | A |
| 402 | Secaucus NJ | 22,640 | $140K | 5.8% | 5.6% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,658 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 New Brighton, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work in the towns next to New Brighton
The biggest share goes to Arden Hills (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | New Brighton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Brighton | – | A | A | 20 min | $88,521 |
| Arden Hills | 3% | A | A− | 17 min | $134,118 |
| Mounds View | under 3% | A− | A− | 23 min | $90,009 |
| St. Anthony | under 3% | A+ | A+ | 19 min | $97,363 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of New Brighton’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 New Brighton: questions
What is the median household income in New Brighton?
$88,521 (±$6,766) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Brighton?
8.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Brighton?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Brighton work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (22%, 8 mi), St. Paul (10%, 10 mi), Roseville (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is New Brighton walkable?
New Brighton is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Brighton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 54% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Brighton, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Brighton
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.