Red Wing Waterworks · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Red Wing earn less than those in 63% of U.S. towns
7% of workers have no commute at all, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%. The poverty rate is 13.8%, where Minnesota as a whole has 9.3%. Red Wing grades C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs & income in Red Wing: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Red Wing is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #235 of 273 in Minnesota. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Red Wing’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Red Wing could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Who works in Red Wing, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 4,072 residents head out to work, 3,500 work right here, and 6,511 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Red Wing on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 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.
5% of working residents work in St. Paul
Where Red Wing clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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 the 10,011 jobs in Red Wing are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Red Wing, 2013 → 2023: 10,832 → 10,011. 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 Red Wing’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Red Wing spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Red Wing workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,123 commuters (the 7% 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.
How far Red Wing’s workers travel
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.
Most of Red Wing commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Red Wing is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #136 of 273 in Minnesota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,678 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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 Red Wing households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Red Wing’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000, Red Wing comes 1,591st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Victoria MN | 12,447 | $196K | 2.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Hugo MN | 17,167 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,589 | Wildwood FL | 19,436 | $77K | 12.8% | 7.5% | 20% | C |
| 1,590 | Mount Clemens MI | 15,419 | $52K | 16.3% | 6.8% | 8% | C |
| 1,591 | Red Wing MN | 16,805 | $67K | 13.8% | 4.9% | 46% | C |
| 1,592 | Pleasant Township IN | 14,561 | $73K | 14.2% | 6.2% | 36% | C |
| 1,593 | Madison Township IN | 18,077 | $61K | 14.2% | 4.0% | 46% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Red Wing, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Around Red Wing: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Red Wing workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Wing | – | C | B+ | 20 min | $67,192 |
| Wacouta Township | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Hay Creek Township | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Featherstone Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Welch Township | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Wacouta Township, Featherstone Township and Welch Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Hay Creek Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Red Wing’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 Red Wing: questions
What is the median household income in Red Wing?
$67,192 (±$10,238) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Red Wing?
13.8%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Red Wing?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Red Wing work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Paul (5%, 35 mi), Rochester (4%, 40 mi), Minneapolis (3%, 42 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Red Wing walkable?
Red Wing is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Red Wing without a car?
1% 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 Red Wing, from the people who make the trip.
More of Red Wing
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.