Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0For about half of its working residents, Pine Island is a commute to Rochester
Household incomes here are higher than in 80% of U.S. towns. Pine Island grades A for jobs and income and C for walkability. Only 8% work in Pine Island itself; outside it, Rochester draws the most (49%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Pine Island in brief
Nearly half of Pine Island works in Rochester
1,006 working residents, 49%, have their main job in Rochester, 15 miles away. That’s 6 times as many as work in Pine Island itself. The commute map ↓
Pine Island makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Pine Island are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Pine Island residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. The jobs ↓
Pine Island has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Pine Island went from 841 in 2013 to 1,151 in 2023, +37%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Pine Island’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pine Island is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #92 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment holds Pine Island’s grade up (1.7%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pine Island could be anywhere from B to A+.
Out of Pine Island to work: where people go
Where Pine Island clocks in
49% 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.
Goods, not services: 39% of the jobs in Pine Island
1,151 jobs are based in Pine Island.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pine Island, 2013 → 2023: 841 → 1,151. 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 Pine Island’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Pine Island
On a workday 1,889 residents head out to work, 154 work right here, and 997 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,000 people are in Pine Island on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.56 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.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Pine Island
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pine Island workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,560 commuters (the 15% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Pine Island
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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Pine Island is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pine Island is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #231 of 273 in Minnesota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,843 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 39% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.4% of Pine Island households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pine Island’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Pine Island is 532nd among 4,364 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,300
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 530 | Le Claire IA | 4,741 | $105K | 6.8% | 1.8% | 7% | A |
| 531 | DeWitt MI | 4,795 | $110K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 5% | A |
| 532 | Pine Island MN | 3,911 | $104K | 4.0% | 1.7% | 8% | A |
| 533 | Alamo Township MI | 3,826 | $87K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 5% | A |
| 534 | Greenwich Township NJ | 5,026 | $92K | 5.7% | 3.2% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,364 | 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 Pine Island, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work in the towns next to Pine Island
The biggest share goes to Oronoco Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pine Island workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Island | – | A | C | 25 min | $104,432 |
| New Haven Township | under 1% | A | B− | 19 min | $132,670 |
| Pine Island Township | under 1% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Oronoco Township | 1% | B | D | 23 min | $124,079 |
Same-state neighbors only. Pine Island Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pine Island’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 Pine Island: questions
What is the median household income in Pine Island?
$104,432 (±$24,083) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pine Island?
4.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pine Island?
25 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pine Island work?
8% work in town.
Is Pine Island walkable?
Pine Island is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pine Island without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pine Island, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pine Island
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.