Photo: AlexiusHoratius · CC BY-SA 3.0Wabasha has lower unemployment (1.7%) than 88% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 10% of workers, against 18% across Minnesota. Jobs and income earn Wabasha B−; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 0.6 in Rochester.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Wabasha apart on work
Wabasha is the work center of its corner
Every town that borders Wabasha (Pepin Township, Nelson and Greenfield Township) has fewer jobs than working residents, while Wabasha has 1.6 per resident. Next door ↓
Wabasha’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Wabasha is Rochester, 33 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (141) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
The four measures behind Wabasha’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wabasha is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #210 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment holds Wabasha’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wabasha could be anywhere from C to B.
How far it is to work from Wabasha
About 18% 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.
Wabasha on a workday afternoon
On a workday 642 residents head out to work, 439 work right here, and 1,233 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,200 people are in Wabasha on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
1.5 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.
Where the people who work in Wabasha live
Where Wabasha clocks in
13% 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.
What work there is in Wabasha: 1,672 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wabasha, 2013 → 2023: 1,682 → 1,672. 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 Wabasha’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 21 minutes from Wabasha
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wabasha workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 963 commuters (the 10% 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.
Wabasha is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wabasha is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #27 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Wabasha near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,070 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 25% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% 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). 10.4% of Wabasha households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wabasha’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wabasha places 2,442nd of 5,083 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Greenfield MN | 2,962 | $154K | 1.2% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Empire MN | 3,063 | $148K | 1.9% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | May Township MN | 2,638 | $137K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,440 | Dover FL | 3,009 | $50K | 23.5% | 1.5% | 2% | B− |
| 2,441 | Lafourche Crossing LA | 2,790 | $73K | 28.4% | 1.2% | 1% | B− |
| 2,442 | Wabasha MN | 2,599 | $65K | 10.2% | 1.7% | 41% | B− |
| 2,443 | Worthington Township OH | 2,987 | $74K | 4.5% | 5.6% | 4% | B− |
| 2,444 | Huntington TX | 2,157 | $64K | 12.3% | 2.3% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Wabasha, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Next door to Wabasha
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wabasha workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wabasha | – | B− | A | 21 min | $64,514 |
| Pepin Township | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Greenfield Township | under 2% | B | C− | 30 min | $91,094 |
Same-state neighbors only. Pepin Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wabasha’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 Wabasha: questions
What is the median household income in Wabasha?
$64,514 (±$8,071) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wabasha?
10.2%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wabasha?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wabasha work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rochester (13%, 33 mi), Lake City (8%, 13 mi), Winona (5%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wabasha walkable?
Wabasha is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wabasha without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wabasha, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wabasha
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.