Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in St. Paul (5.4%) than in 67% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in St. Paul; the top destination outside it is Minneapolis (20%, 8 miles). St. Paul grades B− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Working residents average 21 minutes each way, where Minnesota has 23 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from St. Paul, in brief
Most St. Paul residents work close to home
67% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
St. Paul and Minneapolis trade workers both ways
Minneapolis is the top workplace for St. Paul residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in St. Paul come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs in St. Paul pay over $40,000 a year
72% of the jobs based in St. Paul pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in St. Paul
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Paul is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #189 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car holds St. Paul’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Paul could be anywhere from B− to B.
Half of St. Paul commutes less than 7 miles
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.
Out of St. Paul to work: where people go
Where St. Paul clocks in
20% of workers
4% 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.
St. Paul is a services town
165,704 jobs are based in St. Paul.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Paul, 2013 → 2023: 176,341 → 165,704. 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. Paul’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in St. Paul, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 93,261 residents head out to work, 35,948 work right here, and 129,756 people come in from elsewhere.
About 343,000 people are in St. Paul on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 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.
Getting to work from St. Paul takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Paul workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 126,092 commuters (the 20% 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.
St. Paul is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 158,021 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 77% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 13.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% 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). 13.0% of St. Paul households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of St. Paul’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
St. Paul is 41st of 70 U.S. towns of 215,000 to 414,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Tampa FL | 413,554 | $75K | 15.5% | 4.9% | 42% | B− |
| 40 | Reno NV | 283,621 | $81K | 12.6% | 5.1% | 63% | B− |
| 41 | St. Paul MN | 306,684 | $73K | 15.6% | 5.4% | 28% | B− |
| 42 | Orlando FL | 333,888 | $72K | 14.7% | 5.2% | 36% | B− |
| 43 | Port St. Lucie FL | 268,062 | $81K | 9.5% | 6.0% | 17% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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. Paul, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
25% of St. Paul works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Paul workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Paul | – | B− | A+ | 21 min | $73,394 |
| Maplewood | 2% | B+ | A− | 22 min | $91,394 |
| Minneapolis | 20% | B− | A+ | 22 min | $80,846 |
| Lilydale | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Falcon Heights | under 2% | A− | A+ | 22 min | $96,528 |
| South St. Paul | under 2% | B+ | A− | 21 min | $87,994 |
| West St. Paul | under 2% | B | A | 22 min | $68,464 |
| Mendota Heights | under 2% | A+ | B | 20 min | $132,768 |
| Roseville | 3% | B+ | A | 21 min | $86,930 |
| Mendota | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lilydale and Mendota: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Minneapolis. Darker towns draw more of St. Paul’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. Paul: questions
What is the median household income in St. Paul?
$73,394 (±$1,673) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Paul?
15.6%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Paul?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Paul work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (20%, 8 mi), Bloomington (4%, 13 mi), Edina (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Paul walkable?
St. Paul is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.4 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Paul without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 77% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Paul, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Paul
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.