Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Redwood Falls has lower household incomes than 71% of U.S. towns
For 5% of workers, the job is at home, next to 18% for Minnesota as a whole. 17.2% of residents live below the poverty line (Minnesota 9.3%). Jobs and income earn Redwood Falls C; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Redwood Falls stands out on work
What’s behind Redwood Falls’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Redwood Falls is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #246 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment holds Redwood Falls’ grade up (3.3%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Redwood Falls could be anywhere from D to B−.
Getting to work from Redwood Falls takes about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Redwood Falls workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,081 commuters (the 5% 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.
A workday in Redwood Falls: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,273 residents head out to work, 1,187 work right here, and 1,742 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.19 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Redwood Falls: the destinations
Where Redwood Falls clocks in
5% 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 work there is in Redwood Falls: 2,929 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Redwood Falls, 2014 → 2024: 3,220 → 2,929. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Redwood Falls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Redwood Falls to work
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Redwood Falls, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Redwood Falls is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #47 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Redwood Falls 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 2,190 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). 10.4% of Redwood Falls households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Redwood Falls’ commuters take a bus or train.
Redwood Falls places 2,901st of 3,758 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Independence MN | 3,763 | $187K | 1.1% | 0.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Deephaven MN | 3,794 | $198K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 20 | Elko New Market MN | 5,300 | $152K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,899 | Pontoon Beach IL | 5,887 | $63K | 21.7% | 11.0% | 3% | C |
| 2,900 | Pratt KS | 6,574 | $64K | 14.3% | 3.7% | 49% | C |
| 2,901 | Redwood Falls MN | 5,040 | $62K | 17.2% | 3.3% | 48% | C |
| 2,902 | LaGrange Township MI | 3,724 | $59K | 13.9% | 5.6% | 9% | C |
| 2,903 | Gregg Township PA | 3,594 | $80K | 39.8% | 10.8% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Redwood Falls, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Next door to Redwood Falls
The biggest share goes to Paxton Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Redwood Falls workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redwood Falls | – | C | A | 14 min | $61,750 |
| Paxton Township | 2% | — | — | 12 min | — |
| Redwood Falls Township | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Delhi Township | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Beaver Falls Township | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Paxton Township, Redwood Falls Township, Delhi Township and Beaver Falls Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Redwood Falls’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 2024, 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 Redwood Falls: questions
What is the median household income in Redwood Falls?
$61,750 (±$13,989) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Redwood Falls?
17.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Redwood Falls?
14 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Redwood Falls work?
48% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sherman Township (5%, 9 mi), Marshall (5%, 34 mi), Willmar (3%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Redwood Falls walkable?
Redwood Falls is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Redwood Falls without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Redwood Falls, from the people who make the trip.
More of Redwood Falls
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.