Photo: Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 3.0Walker draws 1,163 commuters a day, with 3.8 jobs for every working resident
Walker has 1,237 jobs; 327 of its residents have a job. About one in five stay in Walker for work; outside it, Shingobee Township is the main destination (22%, 1 miles). 2% of workers have no commute at all, where Minnesota as a whole has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Walker, in brief
Walker has far more jobs than workers
Walker has 1,237 jobs, 3.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,900 people are in town, 93% more than the 980 who live here. Day and night ↓
Walker and Shingobee Township trade workers both ways
Shingobee Township is the top workplace for Walker residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Walker come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Walker workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; with 327 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
A workday in Walker: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 253 residents head out to work and 74 work right here.
About 1,900 people are in Walker on a workday afternoon, 93% more 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.
The towns that send workers to Walker
Where Walker clocks in
6% 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.
Walker’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Walker workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 250 commuters (the 2% 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.
What Walker’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Walker, 2013 → 2023: 1,499 → 1,237. 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 Walker’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Walker goes to work
About 30% 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 Walker: questions
What is the median household income in Walker?
$34,375 (±$15,881) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Walker?
21.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Walker?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Walker work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Shingobee Township (22%, 1 mi), Bemidji (6%, 31 mi), Cass Lake (5%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Walker without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 24% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Walker, from the people who make the trip.
More of Walker
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.