Photo: Myotus · CC BY-SA 4.0Roseau draws 1,482 commuters a day, with 1.8 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Roseau C−; getting around on foot earns it A−. Roseau has 2,065 jobs for 1,122 working residents. More than half work in Roseau itself; outside it, Warroad draws the most (13%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Roseau
Fewer jobs are based in Roseau than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Roseau fell from 3,786 in 2013 to 2,065 in 2023, −45%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Roseau is where the jobs are
Roseau has 2,065 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Roseau are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 69 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.
The four measures behind Roseau’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Roseau is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #254 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment holds Roseau’s grade up (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Roseau could be anywhere from D to B−.
What Roseau’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roseau, 2013 → 2023: 3,786 → 2,065. 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 Roseau’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Roseau, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 539 residents head out to work and 583 work right here.
About 3,600 people are in Roseau on a workday afternoon, 35% more 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.
Each way, about 14 minutes from Roseau
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roseau workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,025 commuters (the 21% 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 the people who work in Roseau live
Where Roseau clocks in
13% 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 many miles Roseau commutes
About 25% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Roseau
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roseau is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #83 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Roseau 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 1,291 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). 7.8% of Roseau households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Roseau’s commuters take a bus or train.
Roseau next to U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600: 3,687th of 4,797 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Greenfield MN | 2,962 | $154K | 1.2% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Empire MN | 3,063 | $148K | 1.9% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | May Township MN | 2,638 | $137K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,685 | Whidbey Island Station WA | 2,027 | $46K | 7.4% | 6.9% | 0% | C− |
| 3,686 | Fowler IN | 2,386 | $54K | 14.3% | 4.4% | 16% | C− |
| 3,687 | Roseau MN | 2,685 | $60K | 17.8% | 3.8% | 52% | C− |
| 3,688 | Hanley Hills MO | 1,963 | $53K | 33.9% | 10.8% | <1% | C− |
| 3,689 | Center Township IN | 2,811 | $59K | 14.0% | 6.0% | 14% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Roseau, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
The towns around Roseau
The biggest share goes to Jadis Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Roseau workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roseau | – | C− | A− | 14 min | $60,217 |
| Jadis Township | 5% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Spruce Township | under 1% | — | — | 13 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Jadis Township and Spruce Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Roseau’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 Roseau: questions
What is the median household income in Roseau?
$60,217 (±$12,400) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roseau?
17.8%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roseau?
14 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roseau work?
52% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Warroad (13%, 20 mi), Jadis Township (5%, 3 mi), Thief River Falls (4%, 54 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roseau walkable?
Roseau is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roseau without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roseau, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roseau
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.