Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Silver Bay at work: jobs, income and the commute
The two grades for Silver Bay are C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in four work in Silver Bay; the top destination outside it is Duluth (8%, 54 miles). Working residents average 20 minutes each way, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Silver Bay apart
Silver Bay’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Silver Bay is Duluth, 54 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (52) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Silver Bay than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Silver Bay fell from 1,371 in 2013 to 423 in 2023, −69%. 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 628 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Silver Bay
On income, poverty and job access, Silver Bay is better than 22% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Silver Bay’s grade up (9.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Silver Bay’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, Silver Bay could be anywhere from D to B−.
The distance from Silver Bay to work
About 42% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Silver Bay
423 jobs are based in Silver Bay.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Silver Bay, 2013 → 2023: 1,371 → 423. 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 Silver Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Silver Bay, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 442 residents head out to work, 186 work right here, and 237 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Silver Bay on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.67 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.
Commuting out of Silver Bay: the destinations
Where Silver Bay clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Minnesota
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Silver Bay workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 628 commuters (the 13% 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.
Silver Bay is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Silver Bay is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 718 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). 2.6% of Silver Bay households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Silver Bay’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Silver Bay ranks: 4,149th of 6,085 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Tonka Bay MN | 1,561 | $156K | 3.5% | 9.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,147 | Chenoa IL | 1,705 | $66K | 21.3% | 3.4% | 3% | C− |
| 4,148 | Dassel MN | 1,524 | $60K | 13.3% | 0.8% | 12% | C− |
| 4,149 | Silver Bay MN | 1,767 | $69K | 9.9% | 2.8% | 30% | C− |
| 4,150 | Choteau MT | 1,825 | $52K | 5.7% | 0.7% | 36% | C− |
| 4,151 | Buckheart Township IL | 1,675 | $61K | 13.7% | 2.7% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | 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 Silver Bay, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
The towns around Silver Bay
The biggest share goes to Beaver Bay Township (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Silver Bay workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Bay | – | C− | B | 20 min | $69,489 |
| Beaver Bay Township | 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Beaver Bay Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Silver Bay’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 Silver Bay: questions
What is the median household income in Silver Bay?
$69,489 (±$14,321) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Silver Bay?
9.9%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Silver Bay?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Silver Bay work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Duluth (8%, 54 mi), Two Harbors (7%, 26 mi), Beaver Bay (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Silver Bay walkable?
Silver Bay is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Silver Bay without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Silver Bay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Silver Bay
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.