Lake Bemidji State Park CCC/NYA/Rustic Style Historic Resources · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0More than half of Northern Township’s working residents commute to Bemidji
Jobs & income B+: better than 68% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #154 of 273 in Minnesota.
Walkability C+: more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns · #199 of 273 in Minnesota.
Household incomes here are higher than in 77% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 20 minutes each way (Minnesota 23, U.S. 26). Only 3% work in Northern Township; the top destination outside it is Bemidji (58%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Northern Township
More than half of Northern Township works in Bemidji
1,034 working residents, 58%, have their main job in Bemidji, 4.4 miles away across the town line. That’s 19 times as many as work in Northern Township itself. The commute map ↓
Northern Township has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Northern Township went from 348 in 2013 to 599 in 2023, +72%. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
38% of the jobs based in Northern Township are held by workers 29 or younger, against 23% of Northern Township’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
Most Northern Township residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Northern Township empties out on a workday
About 2,500 people are in Northern Township on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than the 3,700 who live here: 1,700 head out to work and 550 come in. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Northern Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Northern Township is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #154 of 273 in Minnesota. The poverty rate holds Northern Township’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Northern Township could be anywhere from C+ to A.
58% of working residents work in Bemidji
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Northern Township clocks in
58% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Northern Township makes things: 29% of its jobs are in goods
599 jobs are based in Northern Township. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Northern Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Northern Township, 2013 → 2023: 348 → 599. 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.
Half of Northern Township commutes less than 6 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 20% 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.
Northern Township quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,734 residents head out to work, 51 work right here, and 548 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Northern Township on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.34 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Minnesota
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Northern Township workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,734 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Minnesota: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Most trips from Northern Township start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Northern Township is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #199 of 273 in Minnesota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,826 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). 0.0% of Northern Township households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Northern Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Northern Township is 1,322nd of 4,318 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Northern Township, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Independence MN | 3,763 | $187K | 1.1% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Deephaven MN | 3,794 | $198K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Greenfield MN | 2,962 | $154K | 1.2% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,320 | Iona ID | 3,179 | $85K | 12.2% | 1.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,321 | Shiawassee Township MI | 2,726 | $78K | 10.1% | 1.6% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,322 | Northern Township MN | 3,701 | $100K | 4.5% | 3.4% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,323 | Huntsburg Township OH | 3,708 | $81K | 10.1% | 1.6% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,324 | Filer ID | 3,026 | $65K | 5.1% | 0.7% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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.
58% of Northern Township works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Bemidji (58%). Darker towns draw more of Northern Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Northern Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Township | – | B+ | C+ | 20 min | $99,848 |
| Bemidji | 58% | C− | A | 17 min | $55,405 |
| Turtle River Township | under 1% | B | C− | 19 min | $94,000 |
| Eckles Township | under 1% | B− | B− | 22 min | $78,125 |
| Turtle Lake Township | under 1% | B+ | D− | 25 min | $119,750 |
| Frohn Township | under 1% | C+ | D− | 24 min | $90,156 |
| Grant Valley Township | under 1% | B+ | D | 18 min | $80,109 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Northern Township: questions
What is the median household income in Northern Township?
$99,848 (±$11,036) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Northern Township?
4.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Northern Township?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Northern Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bemidji (58%, 4 mi), Red Lake (3%, 23 mi), Little Rock (2%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Northern Township walkable?
Northern Township is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Northern Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Northern Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Northern Township
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.