Photo: In memoriam afiler · CC BY-SA 2.0With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Viking works elsewhere
Only 2% stay in Viking for work; outside it, Thief River Falls is the main destination (36%, 13 miles). There are 4 jobs in Viking for 42 working residents. 31% of workers have no commute at all (Minnesota 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Viking, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 41 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 3 people come in from elsewhere.
About 41 people are in Viking on a workday afternoon, 48% 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.
Commuting out of Viking: the destinations
Where Viking clocks in
10% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Viking
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Viking, 2013 → 2023: 9 → 4. 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 Viking’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes each way for Viking’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Viking workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 43 commuters (the 31% 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.
How far it is to work from Viking
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.
- Two counts of out-of-state work. The Census survey asks workers where they work: 2% of Viking workers work outside Minnesota. The job records count 14% at employers in other states. The records use the address the employer reports and skip the self-employed, so the two can differ.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Viking: questions
What is the median household income in Viking?
$76,607 (±$11,269) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Viking?
10.4%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Viking?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Viking work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Thief River Falls (36%, 13 mi), Grand Forks (10%, 38 mi), Newfolden (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Viking without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Viking, from the people who make the trip.
More of Viking
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.