Royalton has lower household incomes than 81% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Royalton D; getting around on foot earns it C. 26.7% of residents live below the poverty line (Minnesota 9.3%). Only 4% work in Royalton itself; outside it, Little Falls draws the most (28%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Royalton and work: the main findings
Royalton and Little Falls trade workers both ways
Little Falls is the top workplace for Royalton residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Royalton come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Royalton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 23 across Minnesota. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Royalton
60% of Royalton residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 42% of the jobs based in Royalton 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 600 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Royalton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Royalton is better than 14% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Royalton’s grade up (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (11.1%) is left out: Royalton’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Royalton could be anywhere from D to C+.
The towns that employ Royalton’s residents
Where Royalton clocks in
28% of workers
9% 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.
Commuting from Royalton: about 30 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Royalton workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 455 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.
The kinds of work in Royalton
441 jobs are based in Royalton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Royalton, 2013 → 2023: 324 → 441. 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 Royalton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Royalton by day
On a workday 577 residents head out to work, 23 work right here, and 418 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Royalton on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.74 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 2023, primary jobs.
How far it is to work from Royalton
About 17% 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.
In Royalton, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Royalton is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 509 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). 9.1% of Royalton households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Royalton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Royalton next to U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700: 3,692nd of 4,866 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,690 | Jackson WI | 1,183 | $60K | 15.9% | 5.3% | 1% | D |
| 3,691 | Jonesboro IL | 1,635 | $59K | 20.9% | 1.3% | 6% | D |
| 3,692 | Royalton MN | 1,274 | $55K | 26.7% | 11.1% | 4% | D |
| 3,693 | Los Indios TX | 1,059 | $45K | 19.4% | 7.2% | 0% | D |
| 3,694 | Hurt VA | 1,234 | $59K | 16.7% | 2.5% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Royalton, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Next door to Royalton
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Royalton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalton | – | D | C | 30 min | $55,156 |
| Langola Township | under 2% | A− | C− | 29 min | $114,167 |
| Bellevue Township | under 2% | A− | C− | 26 min | $113,958 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Royalton’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 Royalton: questions
What is the median household income in Royalton?
$55,156 (±$16,595) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Royalton?
26.7%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Royalton?
30 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Royalton work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Little Falls (28%, 11 mi), St. Cloud (9%, 22 mi), Brainerd (5%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Royalton walkable?
Royalton is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Royalton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Royalton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Royalton
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.