Photo: Ben Franske · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Perham Township works elsewhere
158 jobs are based in Perham Township for 435 working residents. Perham Township grades B− for jobs and income and D for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Perham Township at work: what stands out
Perham Township and Perham trade workers both ways
Perham is the top workplace for Perham Township residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Perham Township come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Perham Township 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, and quicker than any town next door (20 to 23 minutes). 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; with 435 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Perham Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Perham Township is better than 53% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Perham Township’s grade up ($103,558, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (8.6%) is left out: Perham Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Perham Township could be anywhere from C to A−.
34% of working residents work in Perham
Where Perham Township clocks in
34% of workers
8% of workers
6% 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.
Each way, about 15 minutes from Perham Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Perham Township workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 470 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.
Who commutes out of Perham Township, and who commutes in
On a workday 428 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 151 people come in from elsewhere.
About 790 people are in Perham Township on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
A place that makes things: 46% of Perham Township’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Perham Township, 2013 → 2023: 211 → 158. 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 Perham Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Perham Township
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.
Getting around Perham Township: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Perham Township is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Perham Township near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 519 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). 0.5% of Perham Township households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Perham Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Perham Township ranks: 922nd of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 920 | Murphys Estates SC | 1,064 | $90K | 14.6% | 0.0% | 1% | B− |
| 921 | Oolitic IN | 1,142 | $59K | 3.1% | 4.0% | 1% | B− |
| 922 | Perham Township MN | 1,062 | $104K | 9.5% | 8.6% | 2% | B− |
| 923 | Covington NY | 1,231 | $68K | 4.8% | 2.8% | 8% | B− |
| 924 | Aplington IA | 1,084 | $75K | 4.6% | 0.9% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Perham Township, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Around Perham Township: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Gorman Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Perham Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perham Township | – | B− | D | 15 min | $103,558 |
| Edna Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Pine Lake Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Gorman Township | 3% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Rush Lake Township | under 2% | C | C+ | 20 min | $75,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Edna Township, Pine Lake Township and Gorman Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Perham Township’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 Perham Township: questions
What is the median household income in Perham Township?
$103,558 (±$12,474) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Perham Township?
9.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Perham Township?
15 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Perham Township work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Perham (34%, 2 mi), Detroit Lakes (8%, 19 mi), Wadena (6%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Perham Township walkable?
Perham Township is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Perham 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 Perham Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Perham 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.