Photo: Lorie Shaull · CC BY-SA 4.0Thomson Township has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Thomson Township has 621 jobs, and 2,563 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Thomson Township are A for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Thomson Township apart on work
40% of Thomson Township works in Duluth
1,018 working residents, 40%, have their main job in Duluth, 12 miles away. That’s 6 times as many as work in Thomson Township itself. The commute map ↓
Thomson Township is a place people come home to
There are 621 jobs based in Thomson Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Thomson Township has about 3,700 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 Thomson Township
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Thomson Township is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #70 of 273 in Minnesota. The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Thomson Township could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
40% of working residents work in Duluth
Where Thomson Township clocks in
40% of workers
5% 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 many people are in Thomson Township by day
On a workday 2,373 residents head out to work, 190 work right here, and 431 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,700 people are in Thomson Township on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Thomson Township’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thomson Township, 2013 → 2023: 530 → 621. 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 Thomson Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Thomson Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thomson Township workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,642 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.
Half of Thomson Township commutes less than 12 miles
About 19% 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.
Getting around Thomson Township: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Thomson Township is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns, #214 of 273 in Minnesota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,905 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). 0.0% of Thomson Township households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Thomson Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Thomson Township is 394th among 3,561 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Elko New Market MN | 5,300 | $152K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Hanover MN | 4,392 | $157K | 0.6% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | West Lakeland Township MN | 3,931 | $216K | 3.8% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 392 | East Petersburg PA | 4,702 | $92K | 3.3% | 2.9% | 2% | A |
| 393 | Wyldwood TX | 4,934 | $88K | 3.6% | 2.2% | 1% | A |
| 394 | Thomson Township MN | 5,624 | $119K | 3.7% | 2.1% | 7% | A |
| 395 | Poestenkill NY | 4,346 | $126K | 5.3% | 1.8% | 4% | A |
| 396 | Jordan MN | 6,988 | $110K | 5.5% | 2.7% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,561 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Thomson Township, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
The towns next door employ 18% of Thomson Township
The biggest share goes to Cloquet (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Thomson Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomson Township | – | A | C+ | 19 min | $119,338 |
| Twin Lakes Township | under 2% | B+ | D− | 24 min | $105,272 |
| Carlton | 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Cloquet | 15% | C+ | B+ | 17 min | $61,367 |
| Scanlon | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Solway Township | under 2% | A | D | 25 min | $101,458 |
| Midway Township | 1% | A | C | 19 min | $103,714 |
Same-state neighbors only. Carlton: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Scanlon: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Thomson Township’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 Thomson Township: questions
What is the median household income in Thomson Township?
$119,338 (±$10,805) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thomson Township?
3.7%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thomson Township?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thomson Township work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Duluth (40%, 12 mi), Cloquet (15%, 7 mi), Superior (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thomson Township walkable?
Thomson Township is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thomson Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thomson Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thomson Township
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.