Photo: Widgetkid · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in New Hope (5.0%) is higher than in 61% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.2 in Minneapolis. For jobs and income New Hope is better than 63% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (A−). Only 6% stay in New Hope for work; outside it, Minneapolis is the main destination (17%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set New Hope apart
New Hope trades workers with the towns around it
New Hope has about as many jobs (10,771) as working residents (10,222), but they are mostly different people: 9,635 residents leave for work each day while 10,184 people come in. Only 5% of the jobs in New Hope are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Most New Hope residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
New Hope makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in New Hope are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs New Hope residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 16%. The jobs ↓
New Hope draws workers from far and wide
The 10,771 jobs in New Hope are filled from a wide area. New Hope’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 38%; the other 57% 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.
Inside New Hope’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds New Hope’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Hope could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Who works in New Hope, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 9,635 residents head out to work, 587 work right here, and 10,184 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 (1.05 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from New Hope
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.
Factories, building and farms: 36% of the jobs in New Hope
10,771 jobs are based in New Hope.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Hope, 2013 → 2023: 10,398 → 10,771. 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 Hope’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of New Hope to work: where people go
Where New Hope clocks in
17% 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.
The daily trip from New Hope: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Hope workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,215 commuters (the 16% 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 Hope is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.7% 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 11,012 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, 44% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 7.6% of New Hope households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of New Hope’s commuters take a bus or train.
How New Hope ranks: 907th of 1,705 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 28,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Hugo MN | 17,167 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Otsego MN | 24,525 | $120K | 3.5% | 1.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 905 | Harrison Township MI | 23,984 | $80K | 10.2% | 4.8% | 4% | B |
| 906 | Villa Rica GA | 21,022 | $88K | 11.8% | 3.6% | 9% | B |
| 907 | New Hope MN | 20,807 | $78K | 10.7% | 5.0% | 6% | B |
| 908 | Roselle NJ | 23,261 | $93K | 9.5% | 8.0% | 4% | B |
| 909 | Elmwood Park NJ | 21,534 | $102K | 11.6% | 7.4% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,705 | 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 Hope, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
13% of New Hope works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Plymouth (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | New Hope workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hope | – | B | A− | 19 min | $77,662 |
| Crystal | under 4% | A | A | 21 min | $92,513 |
| Plymouth | 9% | A+ | A− | 22 min | $136,534 |
| Brooklyn Park | 4% | A− | A− | 21 min | $89,891 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of New Hope’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 Hope: questions
What is the median household income in New Hope?
$77,662 (±$7,537) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Hope?
10.7%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Hope?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Hope work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (17%, 8 mi), Plymouth (9%, 4 mi), Maple Grove (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is New Hope walkable?
New Hope is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 13.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Hope without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 44% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Hope, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Hope
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.