At 1.2%, unemployment in Rice Lake is lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
For 10% of workers, the job is at home, next to 18% for Minnesota as a whole. The two grades for Rice Lake are A− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 67% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Rice Lake and work: the main findings
More than half of Rice Lake works in Duluth
1,029 working residents, 57%, have their main job in Duluth, 9.3 miles away across the town line. That’s 11 times as many as work in Rice Lake itself. The commute map ↓
Most Rice Lake residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Rice Lake makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Rice Lake are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Rice Lake residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Rice Lake gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rice Lake is better than 81% of U.S. towns, #113 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rice Lake could be anywhere from B to A.
57% of working residents work in Duluth
Where Rice Lake clocks in
57% of workers
5% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Rice Lake
About 19% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 37% of the jobs in Rice Lake
746 jobs are based in Rice Lake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rice Lake, 2014 → 2024: 835 → 746. 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 Rice Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Rice Lake
On a workday 1,723 residents head out to work, 84 work right here, and 662 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Rice Lake on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.41 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting from Rice Lake: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rice Lake workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,794 commuters (the 10% 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.
Most trips from Rice Lake start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rice Lake is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns, #196 of 273 in Minnesota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 4.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,985 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 3% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 2% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 1.9% of Rice Lake households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Rice Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rice Lake places 767th of 4,112 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,600
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Independence MN | 3,763 | $187K | 1.1% | 0.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Deephaven MN | 3,794 | $198K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 16 | Elko New Market MN | 5,300 | $152K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 765 | Hendron KY | 4,495 | $72K | 3.8% | 0.0% | 3% | A− |
| 766 | South Vacherie LA | 2,954 | $81K | 3.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A− |
| 767 | Rice Lake MN | 4,169 | $90K | 7.2% | 1.2% | 5% | A− |
| 768 | Ferris TX | 4,291 | $90K | 7.7% | 3.5% | 6% | A− |
| 769 | Conoy Township PA | 3,289 | $74K | 6.1% | 1.5% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,112 | 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 Rice Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Rice Lake and its neighbors: 57% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rice Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Lake | – | A− | C+ | 22 min | $89,663 |
| Duluth | 57% | C+ | A+ | 17 min | $68,807 |
| Canosia Township | under 1% | B− | C+ | 22 min | $87,667 |
| Gnesen Township | under 1% | B | C− | 27 min | $112,700 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Duluth. Darker towns draw more of Rice Lake’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 Rice Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Rice Lake?
$89,663 (±$12,426) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rice Lake?
7.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rice Lake?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rice Lake work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Duluth (57%, 9 mi), Hermantown (6%, 9 mi), Superior (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Rice Lake walkable?
Rice Lake is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rice Lake without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 2% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rice Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rice Lake
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.