Photo: Jonathunder · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Preston earn less than those in 68% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 8.9%, next to 9.3% for Minnesota as a whole. Preston grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 0.6 in Rochester.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Preston, in brief
The figures behind Preston’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Preston is better than 25% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Preston’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.4%) is left out: Preston’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, Preston could be anywhere from D to B−.
Miles to work from Preston
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.
Preston by day and by night
On a workday 458 residents head out to work, 87 work right here, and 717 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Preston on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 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.
26% of working residents work in Rochester
Where Preston clocks in
26% 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.
What work there is in Preston: 804 jobs
804 jobs are based in Preston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Preston, 2013 → 2023: 898 → 804. 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 Preston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Preston’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Preston workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 618 commuters (the 12% 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.
Preston is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Preston is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Preston 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 700 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 51% 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 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 10.1% of Preston households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Preston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Preston is 3,387th among 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,385 | Tidmore Bend AL | 1,192 | $61K | 14.6% | 4.0% | 0% | C |
| 3,386 | Clinton WA | 1,419 | $76K | 10.9% | 3.6% | 4% | C |
| 3,387 | Preston MN | 1,318 | $64K | 8.9% | 3.4% | 16% | C− |
| 3,388 | Ennis MT | 1,126 | $70K | 9.4% | 1.1% | 14% | C− |
| 3,389 | Moravia NY | 1,233 | $63K | 10.6% | 4.4% | 16% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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 Preston, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Around Preston: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Preston Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Preston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston | – | C− | A− | 24 min | $63,984 |
| Preston Township | 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Carrolton Township | 1% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Carimona Township | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Fountain Township | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Preston Township, Carrolton Township, Carimona Township and Fountain Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Preston’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 Preston: questions
What is the median household income in Preston?
$63,984 (±$10,416) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Preston?
8.9%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Preston?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Preston work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rochester (26%, 31 mi), Harmony (5%, 9 mi), Chatfield (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Preston walkable?
Preston is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Preston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Preston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Preston
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.