Photo: afiler from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Most of Wendell commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any work in Wendell; the top destination outside it is Elbow Lake (21%, 7 miles). Wendell has 18 jobs for 58 working residents. Working residents average 21 minutes each way (Minnesota 23, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Wendell: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 58 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 18 people come in from elsewhere.
About 130 people are in Wendell on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
Where Wendell’s working residents head each day
Where Wendell clocks in
21% of workers
12% of workers
12% 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.
A place that makes things: 61% of Wendell’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wendell, 2013 → 2023: 10 → 18. 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 Wendell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Wendell: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wendell workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 85 commuters (the 14% 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.
The distance from Wendell to work
About 26% 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 Wendell: questions
What is the median household income in Wendell?
$61,250 (±$11,757) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wendell?
22.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wendell?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wendell work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elbow Lake (21%, 7 mi), Fergus Falls (12%, 17 mi), Alexandria (12%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wendell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wendell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wendell
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.