Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0Work and commuting in Verndale
Only 2% work in Verndale itself; outside it, Wadena draws the most (18%, 6 miles). Home is the office for 7% of workers, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%. Working residents average 31 minutes each way, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Verndale and work: the main findings
Verndale’s commute takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Verndale workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 186 commuters (the 7% 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.
Verndale quiets down on a workday
On a workday 203 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 138 people come in from elsewhere.
About 440 people are in Verndale on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.69 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where the trip to work from Verndale ends
Where Verndale clocks in
18% of workers
10% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Verndale
143 jobs are based in Verndale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Verndale, 2013 → 2023: 162 → 143. 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 Verndale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Verndale
About 20% 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.
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 Verndale: questions
What is the median household income in Verndale?
$49,063 (±$11,310) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Verndale?
16.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Verndale?
31 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Verndale work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wadena (18%, 6 mi), Staples (10%, 10 mi), Perham (5%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Verndale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Verndale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Verndale
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.