Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Richmond works elsewhere
Employers in Richmond report 385 jobs; 729 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Richmond C+; getting around on foot earns it B−. Only 4% work in Richmond itself; outside it, St. Cloud draws the most (16%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Richmond apart
Many jobs in Richmond pay little
39% of the jobs based in Richmond pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 34% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Richmond
68% of Richmond residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Richmond pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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; with 729 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Richmond
On income, poverty and job access, Richmond is better than 43% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Richmond’s grade.
Unemployment (1.6%) is left out: Richmond’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, Richmond could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Jobs in Richmond: what the 385 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Richmond, 2013 → 2023: 321 → 385. 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 Richmond’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Richmond
On a workday 703 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 359 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Richmond on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The places Richmond commutes to
Where Richmond clocks in
16% of workers
9% 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.
From Richmond, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Richmond workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 714 commuters (the 11% 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.
Half of Richmond commutes less than 16 miles
About 20% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Richmond commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Richmond is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 802 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). 1.6% of Richmond households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Richmond’s commuters take a bus or train.
Richmond places 2,304th of 5,397 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,302 | Patrick AFB FL | 1,644 | $76K | 15.4% | 3.2% | 0% | C+ |
| 2,303 | Sullivan Gardens TN | 1,267 | $47K | 8.0% | 1.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,304 | Richmond MN | 1,515 | $71K | 10.1% | 1.6% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,305 | Divernon Township IL | 1,399 | $77K | 14.2% | 4.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,306 | Columbia Township MI | 1,205 | $84K | 7.6% | 2.1% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,397 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Richmond, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work in the towns next to Richmond
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Richmond workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | – | C+ | B− | 19 min | $71,438 |
| Munson Township | under 3% | A | C− | 28 min | $121,000 |
| Wakefield Township | 4% | A− | C | 29 min | $108,333 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wakefield Township. Darker towns draw more of Richmond’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 Richmond: questions
What is the median household income in Richmond?
$71,438 (±$19,281) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Richmond?
10.1%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Richmond?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Richmond work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Cloud (16%, 17 mi), Cold Spring (9%, 4 mi), Paynesville (8%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Richmond walkable?
Richmond is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Richmond without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Richmond, from the people who make the trip.
More of Richmond
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.