Photo: Lorie Shaull · CC BY 2.0Shafer has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
For 8% of workers, the job is at home (Minnesota 18%). There are 120 jobs in Shafer, against 577 working residents. The two grades for Shafer are B+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Shafer apart
Shafer workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 23 across Minnesota. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 130 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Shafer is a place people come home to
There are 120 jobs based in Shafer, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Shafer has about 760 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 577 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Shafer’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Shafer is better than 66% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Shafer’s grade up ($99,489, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 41% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (2.3%) is left out: Shafer’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, Shafer could be anywhere from B− to A−.
A commute of about 40 minutes in Shafer
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shafer workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 610 commuters (the 9% 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.
Shafer on a workday afternoon
On a workday 572 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 115 people come in from elsewhere.
About 760 people are in Shafer on a workday afternoon, 38% 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.
6% of working residents work in Forest Lake
Where Shafer clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Shafer works in goods: 59% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shafer, 2013 → 2023: 109 → 120. 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 Shafer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Shafer
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.
Few in Shafer walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shafer is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Shafer 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 667 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). 1.6% of Shafer households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shafer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Shafer next to U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600: 858th of 4,312 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 856 | Parkland WI | 1,228 | $95K | 7.7% | 2.5% | 0% | B+ |
| 857 | Golden Valley NV | 1,139 | $93K | 10.2% | 12.5% | <1% | B+ |
| 858 | Shafer MN | 1,212 | $99K | 7.5% | 2.3% | 1% | B+ |
| 859 | Saltcreek Township IN | 1,158 | $111K | 6.5% | 0.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 860 | Brigham WI | 1,061 | $114K | 10.2% | 1.0% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 Shafer, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
The towns around Shafer
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shafer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shafer | – | B+ | C+ | 40 min | $99,489 |
| Shafer Township | under 3% | — | — | 37 min | — |
| Franconia Township | under 3% | B+ | C− | 34 min | $116,875 |
Same-state neighbors only. Shafer Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Shafer’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 Shafer: questions
What is the median household income in Shafer?
$99,489 (±$13,700) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shafer?
7.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shafer?
40 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shafer work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Forest Lake (6%, 14 mi), Minneapolis (5%, 38 mi), Osceola (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shafer walkable?
Shafer is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shafer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shafer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shafer
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.