Photo: LakeLida at English Wikipedia · Public domainHousehold incomes in Pelican Rapids are lower than in 68% of U.S. towns
16.6% of residents live below the poverty line (Minnesota 9.3%). For jobs and income Pelican Rapids is better than 23% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−). 9% of workers work from home, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Pelican Rapids stands out on work
Pelican Rapids’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Pelican Rapids is Willmar, 112 miles away as the crow flies. 24% of working residents (259) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Pelican Rapids trades workers with the towns around it
Pelican Rapids has about as many jobs (982) as working residents (1,083), but they are mostly different people: 809 residents leave for work each day while 708 people come in. Only 28% of the jobs in Pelican Rapids are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Pelican Rapids than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Pelican Rapids fell from 1,687 in 2013 to 982 in 2023, −42%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
44% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Many jobs in Pelican Rapids pay little
27% of the jobs based in Pelican Rapids pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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.
Pelican Rapids’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Unemployment holds Pelican Rapids’ grade up (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pelican Rapids could be anywhere from D to B.
How far it is to work from Pelican Rapids
About 44% 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.
A workday in Pelican Rapids: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 809 residents head out to work, 274 work right here, and 708 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 (0.91 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.
Inside Pelican Rapids’ 982 jobs
982 jobs are based in Pelican Rapids.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pelican Rapids, 2013 → 2023: 1,687 → 982. 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 Pelican Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.
24% of working residents work in Willmar
Where Pelican Rapids clocks in
24% of workers
8% of workers
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.
About 22 minutes each way, about the MN average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pelican Rapids workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 979 commuters (the 9% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Pelican Rapids
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,071 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). 12.5% of Pelican Rapids households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pelican Rapids’ commuters take a bus or train.
3,746th of 5,083: where Pelican Rapids ranks among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Greenfield MN | 2,962 | $154K | 1.2% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Empire MN | 3,063 | $148K | 1.9% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | May Township MN | 2,638 | $137K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,744 | Haskell Township KS | 1,812 | $72K | 14.9% | 4.6% | 31% | C− |
| 3,745 | Harlem FL | 2,420 | $46K | 6.7% | 12.3% | <1% | C− |
| 3,746 | Pelican Rapids MN | 2,608 | $64K | 16.6% | 4.5% | 25% | C− |
| 3,747 | Mannford OK | 3,432 | $61K | 17.1% | 5.8% | 9% | C− |
| 3,748 | Early TX | 3,117 | $67K | 10.6% | 7.6% | 7% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Pelican Rapids, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
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 Pelican Rapids: questions
What is the median household income in Pelican Rapids?
$63,917 (±$15,419) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pelican Rapids?
16.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pelican Rapids?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pelican Rapids work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Willmar (24%, 112 mi), Fergus Falls (8%, 20 mi), Detroit Lakes (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pelican Rapids walkable?
Pelican Rapids is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pelican Rapids without a car?
0% 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 Pelican Rapids, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pelican 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.