Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Households in Park Rapids earn less than those in 93% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 10% of workers; Minnesota has 18%. 21.2% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 9.3% for Minnesota as a whole. For jobs and income Park Rapids is better than 5% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Park Rapids in brief
A longer commute than the towns next door
Park Rapids averages 26 minutes each way, more than any bordering town (16 to 18 minutes). Next door ↓
Park Rapids is where the jobs are
Park Rapids has 3,187 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Park Rapids’ working residents have a job less than 5 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 26 minutes, longer than the Minnesota average of 23. Time on the road ↓
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.
The four measures behind Park Rapids’ grade
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Park Rapids’ grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Park Rapids could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How many people are in Park Rapids by day
On a workday 902 residents head out to work, 689 work right here, and 2,498 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Park Rapids on a workday afternoon, 36% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The daily trip from Park Rapids: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Park Rapids workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,639 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.
Who travels to work in Park Rapids, and from where
Where Park Rapids clocks in
4% 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.
What Park Rapids’ employers do
3,187 jobs are based in Park Rapids.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Park Rapids, 2013 → 2023: 3,100 → 3,187. 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 Park Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Park Rapids
About 25% 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.
In Park Rapids, walking beats the bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,820 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). 12.2% of Park Rapids households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Park Rapids’ commuters take a bus or train.
Park Rapids next to U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Independence MN | 3,763 | $187K | 1.1% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Deephaven MN | 3,794 | $198K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 17 | Elko New Market MN | 5,300 | $152K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,844 | Sandersville GA | 5,397 | $50K | 18.5% | 15.4% | 33% | D− |
| 3,845 | Lawrenceville IL | 4,356 | $41K | 17.4% | 9.1% | 16% | D− |
| 3,846 | Park Rapids MN | 4,447 | $45K | 21.2% | 8.0% | 43% | D− |
| 3,847 | Cheboygan MI | 4,804 | $42K | 14.9% | 9.2% | 24% | D− |
| 3,848 | Wiggins MS | 4,316 | $50K | 24.8% | 12.0% | 28% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Park Rapids, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Park Rapids and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Todd Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Park Rapids workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park Rapids | – | D− | A− | 26 min | $44,747 |
| Todd Township | 3% | C+ | C− | 18 min | $86,842 |
| Henrietta Township | 3% | C− | B | 16 min | $72,500 |
| Straight River Township | 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Straight River Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Park Rapids’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 Park Rapids: questions
What is the median household income in Park Rapids?
$44,747 (±$8,052) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Park Rapids?
21.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Park Rapids?
26 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Park Rapids work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit Lakes (4%, 38 mi), Henrietta Township (3%, 5 mi), Todd Township (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Park Rapids walkable?
Park Rapids is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Park Rapids without a car?
1% 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 Park Rapids, from the people who make the trip.
More of Park Rapids
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.