Photo: cjohnson7 · CC BY 2.0Households in Rochester have higher incomes than those in 67% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 26.2 in Minneapolis. Below the poverty line: 8.5% of residents, against 9.3% across Minnesota. Rochester grades B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Rochester stands out on work
Rochester is the work center of its corner
Every town that borders Rochester (Cascade Township, Rochester Township, Haverhill Township, Marion Township, High Forest Township and others) has fewer jobs than working residents, while Rochester has 1.6 per resident. Next door ↓
Most jobs in Rochester go to people who live here
Of the 96,136 jobs based in Rochester, 49% are held by Rochester residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in Rochester pay over $40,000 a year
75% of the jobs based in Rochester pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Rochester are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Why Rochester gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rochester is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #153 of 273 in Minnesota. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Rochester’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rochester could be anywhere from B to A−.
How a workday changes Rochester
On a workday 14,969 residents head out to work, 47,012 work right here, and 49,124 people come in from elsewhere.
About 158,000 people are in Rochester on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Services make up most of the work in Rochester
96,136 jobs are based in Rochester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rochester, 2013 → 2023: 78,995 → 96,136. 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 Rochester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Rochester takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rochester workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 54,862 commuters (the 15% 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.
Where Rochester’s workers come from
Where Rochester clocks in
2% of workers
1% of workers
1% 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.
How far Rochester goes to work
About 15% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Rochester
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rochester is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #66 of 273 in Minnesota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 64,347 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 10% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 8.3% of Rochester households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Rochester’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
124th of 324: where Rochester ranks among U.S. towns of 87,000 to 168,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Bloomington MN | 89,034 | $93K | 9.2% | 4.8% | 20% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 122 | Tracy CA | 101,901 | $121K | 7.8% | 5.5% | 17% | B+ |
| 123 | Alafaya FL | 92,449 | $101K | 9.3% | 4.9% | 6% | B+ |
| 124 | Rochester MN | 124,292 | $89K | 8.5% | 3.7% | 76% | B+ |
| 125 | Carson CA | 90,808 | $109K | 8.7% | 7.8% | 7% | B+ |
| 126 | Downey CA | 108,468 | $91K | 9.0% | 5.8% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 231 | Duluth MN | 88,330 | $69K | 16.8% | 4.7% | 63% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 324 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Rochester, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Next door to Rochester
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rochester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | – | B+ | A− | 17 min | $89,389 |
| Cascade Township | under 1% | A | B− | 18 min | $150,000 |
| Rochester Township | under 1% | A | C− | 54 min | $246,050 |
| Haverhill Township | under 1% | A | C | 18 min | $161,250 |
| Marion Township | under 1% | A+ | C | 21 min | $116,797 |
| High Forest Township | under 1% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Kalmar Township | under 1% | A | D | 22 min | $160,764 |
Same-state neighbors only. High Forest Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rochester’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 Rochester: questions
What is the median household income in Rochester?
$89,389 (±$2,992) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rochester?
8.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rochester?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rochester work?
76% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (2%, 76 mi), Stewartville (1%, 11 mi), Eden Prairie (1%, 75 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rochester walkable?
Rochester is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rochester without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rochester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rochester
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.