Armstrong, W. J., Company Wholesale Grocers · Photo: Jatakuck · CC BY-SA 3.0Waseca has lower unemployment (2.8%) than 73% of U.S. towns
3% of workers work from home (Minnesota 18%). Jobs and income earn Waseca B−; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in three stay in Waseca for work; outside it, Owatonna is the main destination (15%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Waseca, in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Waseca than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Waseca fell from 5,737 in 2013 to 3,436 in 2023, −40%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Few Waseca workers work from home
Only 3% 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.
How Waseca earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waseca is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #199 of 273 in Minnesota. Unemployment holds Waseca’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($64,074, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waseca could be anywhere from C to B+.
What work there is in Waseca: 3,436 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waseca, 2013 → 2023: 5,737 → 3,436. 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 Waseca’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 19 minutes each way for Waseca’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waseca workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,892 commuters (the 3% 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.
Who works in Waseca, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,631 residents head out to work, 1,374 work right here, and 2,062 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).
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 Waseca goes to work
Where Waseca clocks in
15% of workers
7% of workers
4% 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.
How far Waseca’s workers travel
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.
Getting around Waseca: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,004 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.0% of Waseca households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Waseca’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,891 U.S. towns of 6,300 to 12,200, Waseca comes 1,710th 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 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Albertville MN | 8,544 | $133K | 1.1% | 0.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 17 | Mendota Heights MN | 11,475 | $133K | 2.8% | 1.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Dayton MN | 11,402 | $149K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,708 | North Elba NY | 7,768 | $73K | 9.5% | 1.7% | 51% | B− |
| 1,709 | Lake Arrowhead CA | 10,639 | $95K | 11.1% | 3.9% | 17% | B− |
| 1,710 | Waseca MN | 9,035 | $64K | 9.5% | 2.8% | 34% | B− |
| 1,711 | Iowa Park TX | 6,542 | $67K | 9.7% | 3.2% | 9% | B− |
| 1,712 | Bluffton IN | 10,583 | $58K | 9.5% | 2.8% | 36% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,891 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Waseca, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Waseca and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Woodville Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waseca workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waseca | – | B− | B+ | 19 min | $64,074 |
| Woodville Township | 1% | B− | C− | 20 min | $81,042 |
| St. Mary Township | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. St. Mary Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Waseca’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 Waseca: questions
What is the median household income in Waseca?
$64,074 (±$12,001) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waseca?
9.5%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waseca?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waseca work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Owatonna (15%, 13 mi), Mankato (7%, 24 mi), Faribault (4%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waseca walkable?
Waseca is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waseca without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waseca, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waseca
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.