Duluth and Iron Range Railroad Company Passenger Station · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.6 jobs in Tower for every working resident, and 318 people commute in
A typical one-way commute lasts 27 minutes; Minnesota averages 23, the U.S. 26. Employers in Tower report 338 jobs, against 130 working residents. About one in seven work in Tower; the top destination outside it is Virginia (16%, 23 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Tower: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 110 residents head out to work and 20 work right here.
About 630 people are in Tower on a workday afternoon, 49% more than live here.
2.6 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.
Commuting in to Tower: where workers come from
Where Tower clocks in
16% of workers
8% 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.
What Tower’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tower, 2013 → 2023: 182 → 338. 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 Tower’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Tower: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tower workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 153 commuters (the 13% 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 distance from Tower to work
About 35% 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.
Around Tower: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tower workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower | – | — | — | 27 min | $65,893 |
| Breitung Township | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Kugler Township | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Breitung Township and Kugler Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tower’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 Tower: questions
What is the median household income in Tower?
$65,893 (±$13,740) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tower?
9.8%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tower?
27 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tower work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Virginia (16%, 23 mi), Greenwood Township (14%, 5 mi), Duluth (8%, 72 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Tower without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tower, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tower
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.