Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in St. Cloud (6.0%) is higher than in 74% of U.S. towns
St. Cloud grades C for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 26.2 in Minneapolis. 8% of workers have no commute at all (Minnesota 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in St. Cloud
St. Cloud is where the jobs are
St. Cloud has 43,912 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A young workforce
30% of St. Cloud’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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.
St. Cloud’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Cloud is better than 28% of U.S. towns, #240 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car holds St. Cloud’s grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Cloud could be anywhere from C− to C+.
St. Cloud fills up on a workday
On a workday 15,753 residents head out to work, 12,360 work right here, and 31,552 people come in from elsewhere.
About 88,000 people are in St. Cloud on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
67% of the jobs in St. Cloud pay over $3,333 a month
43,912 jobs are based in St. Cloud.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Cloud, 2013 → 2023: 46,063 → 43,912. 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 St. Cloud’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where St. Cloud’s workforce comes from
Where St. Cloud clocks in
5% of workers
3% 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 long St. Cloud spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Cloud workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 32,552 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.
How far it is to work from St. Cloud
About 21% 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.
St. Cloud is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Cloud is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #29 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place St. Cloud 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 35,580 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 13% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 1% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.4% of St. Cloud households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of St. Cloud’s commuters take a bus or train.
How St. Cloud ranks: 533rd of 599 U.S. towns of 51,000 to 98,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Maple Grove MN | 73,893 | $133K | 4.0% | 3.5% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 531 | Hamilton OH | 64,644 | $55K | 19.6% | 5.9% | 16% | C |
| 532 | Lancaster PA | 58,366 | $64K | 20.3% | 8.1% | 22% | C |
| 533 | St. Cloud MN | 72,647 | $61K | 20.2% | 6.0% | 44% | C |
| 534 | Burlington NC | 61,496 | $57K | 16.4% | 6.5% | 26% | C |
| 535 | Logan UT | 55,576 | $61K | 22.3% | 2.6% | 35% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 599 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 St. Cloud, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work next door: 18% of St. Cloud’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Cloud workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Cloud | – | C | A | 20 min | $61,374 |
| Minden Township | 1% | A− | C− | 22 min | $76,250 |
| Haven Township | under 1% | A− | C | 28 min | $104,167 |
| Waite Park | 8% | C− | A | 19 min | $59,285 |
| Le Sauk Township | under 1% | A− | C | 22 min | $94,167 |
| St. Augusta | 1% | A | C+ | 25 min | $140,227 |
| Sauk Rapids | 3% | B | B+ | 19 min | $71,841 |
| Sartell | 5% | A− | C+ | 19 min | $84,131 |
| Clear Lake Township | under 1% | A− | C− | 32 min | $90,938 |
| Sauk Rapids Township | under 1% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Lynden Township | under 1% | B+ | D− | 30 min | $112,083 |
Same-state neighbors only. Sauk Rapids Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Waite Park. Darker towns draw more of St. Cloud’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 St. Cloud: questions
What is the median household income in St. Cloud?
$61,374 (±$4,054) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Cloud?
20.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Cloud?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Cloud work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waite Park (8%, 4 mi), Sartell (5%, 7 mi), Sauk Rapids (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Cloud walkable?
St. Cloud is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Cloud without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 1% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Cloud, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Cloud
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.