Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs, income and commuting in Plato, MN
Home is the office for 9% of workers, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%. Only 2% work in Plato itself; outside it, Glencoe draws the most (20%, 6 miles). The average commute takes 29 minutes each way (Minnesota 23, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily commute in and out of Plato
On a workday 156 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 261 people come in from elsewhere.
About 430 people are in Plato on a workday afternoon, 33% more than live here.
1.7 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.
Commuting in to Plato: where workers come from
Where Plato clocks in
20% of workers
5% 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.
Goods jobs make up 85% of work in Plato
264 jobs are based in Plato.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plato, 2013 → 2023: 37 → 264. 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 Plato’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Plato: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plato workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 114 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.
The commute from Plato, by distance
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.
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 Plato: questions
What is the median household income in Plato?
$91,250 (±$16,702) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plato?
0.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plato?
29 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plato work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Glencoe (20%, 6 mi), Chaska (5%, 21 mi), Lester Prairie (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Plato without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Plato, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plato
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.