Photo: SDHO · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Richfield (5.3%) than in 65% of U.S. towns
Only 6% work in Richfield; the top destination outside it is Minneapolis (22%, 6 miles). Richfield grades B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. The average commute, 23 minutes each way, matches the Minnesota norm.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Richfield: the gist
Richfield trades workers with the towns around it
Richfield has about as many jobs (16,648) as working residents (17,465), but they are mostly different people: 16,378 residents leave for work each day while 15,561 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Richfield are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Richfield works one town over
42% of working residents work in a town that borders Richfield: Minneapolis (22%), Bloomington (12%) and Edina (8%). Next door ↓
Most Richfield residents work close to home
73% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The four measures behind Richfield’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Richfield is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #148 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car holds Richfield’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Richfield could be anywhere from B to A−.
Who commutes out of Richfield, and who commutes in
On a workday 16,378 residents head out to work, 1,087 work right here, and 15,561 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 (0.95 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.
Where in the region Richfield works
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.
The towns that employ Richfield’s residents
Where Richfield clocks in
22% of workers
12% of workers
8% 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.
Jobs in Richfield: what the 16,648 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Richfield, 2013 → 2023: 13,432 → 16,648. 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 Richfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way for Richfield’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Richfield workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,428 commuters (the 19% 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.
Richfield is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 20,210 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 72% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 11.0% of Richfield households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Richfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Richfield ranks: 546th of 1,131 U.S. towns of 26,000 to 49,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 4 | Prior Lake MN | 28,140 | $134K | 3.1% | 1.5% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Andover MN | 33,874 | $138K | 3.3% | 2.8% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Elk River MN | 27,896 | $109K | 3.4% | 1.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 544 | University Place WA | 35,479 | $99K | 8.2% | 5.1% | 6% | B+ |
| 545 | Meadow Woods FL | 42,852 | $83K | 8.4% | 4.3% | 2% | B+ |
| 546 | Richfield MN | 36,593 | $85K | 8.2% | 5.3% | 6% | B+ |
| 547 | Katy TX | 28,373 | $115K | 8.1% | 7.4% | 13% | B+ |
| 548 | Westfield MA | 40,546 | $88K | 10.7% | 3.0% | 23% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,131 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Richfield, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work next door: 42% of Richfield’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Richfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richfield | – | B+ | A+ | 23 min | $85,132 |
| Minneapolis | 22% | B− | A+ | 22 min | $80,846 |
| Bloomington | 12% | B+ | A | 21 min | $93,211 |
| Edina | 8% | A | A− | 20 min | $128,767 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Minneapolis. Darker towns draw more of Richfield’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 Richfield: questions
What is the median household income in Richfield?
$85,132 (±$4,429) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Richfield?
8.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Richfield?
23 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Richfield work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (22%, 6 mi), Bloomington (12%, 4 mi), Edina (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Richfield walkable?
Richfield is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.8 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Richfield without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 72% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Richfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Richfield
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.