Photo: Gabriel Vanslette · CC BY 3.0Households in Vadnais Heights have higher incomes than those in 76% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 3.9% of residents, where Minnesota as a whole has 9.3%. Jobs and income earn Vadnais Heights A; getting around on foot earns it B−. Only 5% work in Vadnais Heights; the top destination outside it is Minneapolis (15%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Vadnais Heights and work: the main findings
Vadnais Heights draws workers from far and wide
The 8,616 jobs in Vadnais Heights are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 39%; the other 57% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Vadnais Heights gains people on a workday
About 16,000 people are in Vadnais Heights on a workday afternoon, 20% more than the 13,000 who live here: 8,300 come in to work and 5,600 head out. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Vadnais Heights
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vadnais Heights is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #91 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car holds Vadnais Heights’ grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vadnais Heights could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Commuting out of Vadnais Heights: the destinations
Where Vadnais Heights clocks in
15% of workers
15% 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.
Who works in Vadnais Heights, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 5,632 residents head out to work, 314 work right here, and 8,302 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Vadnais Heights on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
In Vadnais Heights, 30% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
8,616 jobs are based in Vadnais Heights.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vadnais Heights, 2014 → 2024: 8,372 → 8,616. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Vadnais Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Vadnais Heights’ commute takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vadnais Heights workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,148 commuters (the 23% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Vadnais Heights
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Vadnais Heights start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Vadnais Heights is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #187 of 273 in Minnesota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,656 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 45% 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). 2.8% of Vadnais Heights households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Vadnais Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000, Vadnais Heights ranks 521st of 2,526 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Mendota Heights MN | 11,475 | $133K | 2.8% | 1.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Victoria MN | 12,447 | $196K | 2.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 519 | Brunswick Hills Township OH | 11,536 | $94K | 7.2% | 2.0% | 2% | A |
| 520 | Rockcreek OR | 9,223 | $107K | 4.3% | 4.0% | 2% | A |
| 521 | Vadnais Heights MN | 13,052 | $99K | 3.9% | 4.5% | 5% | A |
| 522 | Mechanicsburg PA | 10,037 | $84K | 5.6% | 2.1% | 5% | A |
| 523 | Monfort Heights OH | 12,441 | $88K | 1.9% | 3.7% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Vadnais Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work next door: 11% of Vadnais Heights’ workers
The biggest share goes to White Bear Lake (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Vadnais Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vadnais Heights | – | A | B− | 23 min | $98,685 |
| Gem Lake | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| White Bear Township | under 2% | A+ | B | 24 min | $128,963 |
| Shoreview | 2% | A | A− | 22 min | $108,370 |
| White Bear Lake | 4% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $83,554 |
| Maplewood | 3% | B+ | A− | 22 min | $91,394 |
| Little Canada | 2% | B | A | 24 min | $77,957 |
| North Oaks | under 2% | A | B | 26 min | $231,742 |
Same-state neighbors only. Gem Lake: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Vadnais Heights’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 2024, 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 Vadnais Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Vadnais Heights?
$98,685 (±$4,556) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vadnais Heights?
3.9%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vadnais Heights?
23 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vadnais Heights work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (15%, 12 mi), St. Paul (15%, 8 mi), White Bear Lake (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Vadnais Heights walkable?
Vadnais Heights is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vadnais Heights without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vadnais Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vadnais Heights
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.