North Mankato Public School · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0About two in five of North Mankato’s working residents commute to Mankato
North Mankato grades A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in five work in North Mankato; the top destination outside it is Mankato (41%, 3 miles). For 10% of workers, the job is at home; Minnesota has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in North Mankato
North Mankato trades workers with the towns around it
North Mankato has about as many jobs (7,146) as working residents (6,862), but they are mostly different people: 5,583 residents leave for work each day while 5,867 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in North Mankato are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Most North Mankato residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from North Mankato are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
North Mankato makes and builds things
43% of the jobs based in North Mankato are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs North Mankato residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 25%. The jobs ↓
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 North Mankato’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, North Mankato is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #121 of 273 in Minnesota. The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.5%, U.S. 12.5%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($80,791, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, North Mankato could be anywhere from B to A.
North Mankato on a workday afternoon
On a workday 5,583 residents head out to work, 1,279 work right here, and 5,867 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 (1.04 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.
The towns that employ North Mankato’s residents
Where North Mankato clocks in
41% of workers
2% 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 commute from North Mankato, by distance
About 17% 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.
Each way, about 15 minutes from North Mankato
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North Mankato workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,839 commuters (the 10% 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.
North Mankato works in goods: 43% of its jobs
7,146 jobs are based in North Mankato.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Mankato, 2013 → 2023: 5,370 → 7,146. 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 North Mankato’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In North Mankato, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, North Mankato is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #132 of 273 in Minnesota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,616 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). 3.6% of North Mankato households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of North Mankato’s commuters take a bus or train.
North Mankato is 744th of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 4 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Mendota Heights MN | 11,475 | $133K | 2.8% | 1.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Victoria MN | 12,447 | $196K | 2.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 742 | Manassas Park VA | 16,560 | $103K | 5.1% | 5.5% | 5% | A− |
| 743 | Raymond NH | 11,050 | $105K | 6.7% | 3.0% | 8% | A− |
| 744 | North Mankato MN | 14,165 | $81K | 4.5% | 2.8% | 19% | A− |
| 745 | Swampscott MA | 15,183 | $134K | 7.1% | 6.1% | 8% | A− |
| 746 | Fairview Township PA | 11,494 | $112K | 4.9% | 3.7% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | 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 North Mankato, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
42% of North Mankato works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | North Mankato workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Mankato | – | A− | B+ | 15 min | $80,791 |
| Belgrade Township | under 1% | A | D | 18 min | $135,000 |
| Mankato | 41% | B− | A− | 14 min | $66,873 |
| Mankato Township | 1% | B | C | 17 min | $113,269 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Mankato. Darker towns draw more of North Mankato’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 North Mankato: questions
What is the median household income in North Mankato?
$80,791 (±$6,259) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Mankato?
4.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Mankato?
15 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North Mankato work?
19% work in town.
Is North Mankato walkable?
North Mankato is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North Mankato without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Mankato, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Mankato
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.