John Hutchinson House · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Wells Township works elsewhere
10% of workers have no commute at all, next to 18% for Minnesota as a whole. There are 366 jobs in Wells Township, against 809 working residents. Jobs and income earn Wells Township B+; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Wells Township
Wells Township makes and builds things
74% of the jobs based in Wells Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Wells Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Wells Township and Faribault trade workers both ways
Faribault is the top workplace for Wells Township residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Wells Township come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The jobs in Wells Township pay better than its residents’ jobs
85% of the jobs based in Wells Township pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 65% of the jobs Wells Township residents hold. 94% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Wells Township. The jobs ↓
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 809 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Wells Township’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Wells Township is better than 71% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (6.1%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Wells Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Wells Township could be anywhere from B− to A.
74% of the jobs in Wells Township make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wells Township, 2013 → 2023: 486 → 366. 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 Wells Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
25% of working residents work in Faribault
Where Wells Township clocks in
25% of workers
9% 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.
Who works in Wells Township, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 787 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 344 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Wells Township on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
The daily trip from Wells Township: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wells Township workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 716 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.
How far it is to work from Wells Township
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.
Few in Wells Township walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wells Township is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 796 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). 1.8% of Wells Township households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wells Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wells Township places 1,013th of 5,794 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,011 | Harbison Township IN | 1,554 | $113K | 10.2% | 0.0% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,012 | New Marlborough MA | 1,500 | $117K | 2.5% | 3.5% | 12% | B+ |
| 1,013 | Wells Township MN | 1,585 | $88K | 6.1% | 2.8% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,014 | Greenfield NH | 1,727 | $104K | 5.2% | 3.7% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,015 | Plover WI | 1,565 | $90K | 5.6% | 1.2% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Wells Township, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Bordering towns draw 28% of Wells Township’s workers
The biggest share goes to Faribault (25%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wells Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wells Township | – | B+ | C | 25 min | $87,574 |
| Faribault | 25% | C | A− | 19 min | $61,449 |
| Shieldsville Township | 3% | B− | B− | 30 min | $100,625 |
| Warsaw Township | under 2% | B+ | C− | 26 min | $91,111 |
| Forest Township | under 2% | B+ | C− | 30 min | $125,938 |
| Cannon City Township | under 2% | A− | C− | 26 min | $101,667 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wells Township’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 Wells Township: questions
What is the median household income in Wells Township?
$87,574 (±$13,381) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wells Township?
6.1%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wells Township?
25 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wells Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Faribault (25%, 4 mi), Owatonna (9%, 18 mi), Northfield (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wells Township walkable?
Wells Township is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wells Township 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 Wells Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wells Township
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.