Thief River Falls Public Library · Photo: Andrew Filer · Public domainThere are 1.9 jobs in Thief River Falls for every working resident, and 5,438 people commute in
Thief River Falls has 8,568 jobs, against 4,400 working residents. Jobs and income earn Thief River Falls C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. Working from home is the commute for 8% 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
Thief River Falls and work: the main findings
Commutes from Thief River Falls are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
Thief River Falls is where the jobs are
Thief River Falls has 8,568 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 13,000 people are in town, 47% more than the 8,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
51% of the jobs in Thief River Falls are in trade, transport and utilities, against 43% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Thief River Falls pay over $40,000 a year
74% of the jobs based in Thief River Falls 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.
The four measures behind Thief River Falls’ grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Thief River Falls is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #212 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment holds Thief River Falls’ grade up (2.7%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Thief River Falls could be anywhere from C to B.
The daily trip from Thief River Falls: about 10 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thief River Falls workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,379 commuters (the 8% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Thief River Falls
On a workday 1,270 residents head out to work and 3,130 work right here.
About 13,000 people are in Thief River Falls on a workday afternoon, 47% more than live here.
1.9 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.
74% of the jobs in Thief River Falls pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thief River Falls, 2013 → 2023: 6,628 → 8,568. 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 Thief River Falls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Thief River Falls: where workers come from
Where Thief River Falls clocks in
2% 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 distance from Thief River Falls to work
About 15% 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 Thief River Falls, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Thief River Falls is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #139 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Thief River Falls 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 4,770 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). 7.6% of Thief River Falls households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Thief River Falls’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 6,200 to 11,900, Thief River Falls ranks 1,836th of 2,878 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Albertville MN | 8,544 | $133K | 1.1% | 0.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 18 | Mendota Heights MN | 11,475 | $133K | 2.8% | 1.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Dayton MN | 11,402 | $149K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,834 | Brentwood PA | 9,597 | $69K | 19.1% | 5.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,835 | Port Salerno FL | 11,184 | $67K | 7.1% | 6.5% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,836 | Thief River Falls MN | 8,799 | $71K | 12.2% | 2.7% | 71% | C+ |
| 1,837 | Ontario OH | 6,692 | $69K | 7.4% | 6.3% | 13% | C+ |
| 1,838 | Brewster MA | 10,457 | $103K | 6.8% | 10.9% | 15% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Thief River Falls, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Next door to Thief River Falls
The biggest share goes to North Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Thief River Falls workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thief River Falls | – | C+ | B+ | 10 min | $71,144 |
| Rocksbury Township | 1% | B | C− | 12 min | $112,548 |
| North Township | 4% | — | — | 14 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Thief River Falls’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 Thief River Falls: questions
What is the median household income in Thief River Falls?
$71,144 (±$4,156) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thief River Falls?
12.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thief River Falls?
10 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thief River Falls work?
71% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are North Township (4%, 2 mi), Fargo (2%, 91 mi), Medina (1%, 246 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thief River Falls walkable?
Thief River Falls is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thief River Falls without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thief River Falls, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thief River Falls
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.