Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0At 1.8%, unemployment in Slayton is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Slayton; the top destination outside it is Worthington (6%, 26 miles). The two grades for Slayton are C+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, next to 18% for Minnesota as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Slayton, in brief
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Slayton
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Slayton is better than 35% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Slayton’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Slayton could be anywhere from D to B−.
Getting to work from Slayton 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 Slayton workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,002 commuters (the 4% 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.
In and out of Slayton on a workday
On a workday 649 residents head out to work, 301 work right here, and 764 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.12 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Slayton goes to work
Where Slayton clocks in
6% 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.
The 1,065 jobs based in Slayton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Slayton, 2013 → 2023: 1,265 → 1,065. 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 Slayton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Slayton
About 24% 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 Slayton, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Slayton is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Slayton 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 1,049 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). 10.8% of Slayton households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Slayton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,234 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600, Slayton comes 2,888th 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Tonka Bay MN | 1,561 | $156K | 3.5% | 9.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Stillwater Township MN | 1,831 | $162K | 3.4% | 3.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Baytown Township MN | 2,232 | $188K | 2.2% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,886 | Madison Township PA | 1,570 | $77K | 14.8% | 5.6% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,887 | Wagon Wheel AZ | 1,716 | $68K | 7.8% | 5.8% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,888 | Slayton MN | 1,930 | $62K | 14.3% | 1.8% | 32% | C+ |
| 2,889 | Garrison ND | 1,446 | $72K | 6.5% | 0.0% | 26% | C+ |
| 2,890 | Rome Township IL | 1,624 | $62K | 8.1% | 4.1% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Slayton, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
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 Slayton: questions
What is the median household income in Slayton?
$62,344 (±$11,713) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Slayton?
14.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Slayton?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Slayton work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worthington (6%, 26 mi), Marshall (6%, 32 mi), Fulda (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Slayton walkable?
Slayton is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Slayton without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Slayton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Slayton
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.