Photo: pierz · Public domainHouseholds in Pierz have lower incomes than those in 85% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 10.0% of residents, where Minnesota as a whole has 9.3%. Pierz grades C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 3% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Pierz in brief
Pierz’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Pierz is St. Cloud, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (81) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Pierz workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 23 across Minnesota. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Pierz workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 607 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Pierz’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Pierz is better than 24% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Pierz’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($52,500, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (1.6%) is left out: Pierz’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, Pierz could be anywhere from D to B−.
Miles to work from Pierz
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.
Pierz’s commute takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pierz workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 605 commuters (the 3% 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.
Pierz fills up on a workday
On a workday 504 residents head out to work, 103 work right here, and 705 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Pierz on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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.
13% of working residents work in St. Cloud
Where Pierz clocks in
13% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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 kinds of work in Pierz
808 jobs are based in Pierz.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pierz, 2013 → 2023: 746 → 808. 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 Pierz’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from Pierz start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pierz is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Pierz 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 626 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). 4.3% of Pierz households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Pierz’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Pierz is 4,064th of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,062 | Falkville AL | 1,121 | $47K | 14.9% | 1.9% | 4% | C− |
| 4,063 | Washington KS | 1,063 | $58K | 7.1% | 1.8% | 24% | C− |
| 4,064 | Pierz MN | 1,450 | $53K | 10.0% | 1.6% | 17% | C− |
| 4,065 | Payne OH | 1,188 | $63K | 17.4% | 5.1% | 5% | C− |
| 4,066 | Pleasant Township IN | 1,375 | $105K | 22.3% | 0.0% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Pierz, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
The towns around Pierz
The biggest share goes to Genola (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pierz workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pierz | – | C− | B+ | 33 min | $52,500 |
| Pierz Township | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Genola | 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Buh Township | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Pierz Township, Genola and Buh Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pierz’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 Pierz: questions
What is the median household income in Pierz?
$52,500 (±$14,133) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pierz?
10.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pierz?
33 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pierz work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Cloud (13%, 31 mi), Little Falls (10%, 12 mi), Brainerd (5%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pierz walkable?
Pierz is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pierz 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 Pierz, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pierz
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.