Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Willmar draws 12,273 commuters a day, with 1.9 jobs for every working resident
The two grades for Willmar are C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. There are 17,945 jobs in Willmar; 9,420 of its residents have a job. 8% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Willmar at work: what stands out
Commutes from Willmar are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
Willmar is where the jobs are
Willmar has 17,945 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Willmar
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Willmar is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #233 of 273 in Minnesota. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Willmar’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Willmar could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Getting to work from Willmar takes about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Willmar workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,842 commuters (the 8% 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.
A workday in Willmar: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,748 residents head out to work and 5,672 work right here.
About 31,000 people are in Willmar on a workday afternoon, 39% 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 Willmar
Where Willmar clocks in
2% of workers
2% of workers
1% 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.
Making and building: 32% of jobs based in Willmar
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Willmar, 2013 → 2023: 13,710 → 17,945. 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 Willmar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Willmar’s commute, mile by mile
About 22% 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.
Driving is how Willmar gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Willmar is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #144 of 273 in Minnesota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,636 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). 8.1% of Willmar households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Willmar’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Willmar ranks: 1,486th of 1,847 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 30,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Prior Lake MN | 28,140 | $134K | 3.1% | 1.5% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Hugo MN | 17,167 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,484 | Oxford AL | 22,199 | $74K | 15.8% | 5.5% | 19% | C |
| 1,485 | Arcata CA | 19,047 | $47K | 27.2% | 11.9% | 36% | C |
| 1,486 | Willmar MN | 22,001 | $62K | 13.1% | 4.8% | 60% | C |
| 1,487 | Stevens Point WI | 26,377 | $58K | 16.6% | 4.4% | 41% | C |
| 1,488 | Grandview MO | 26,653 | $53K | 17.9% | 6.2% | 8% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,847 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Willmar, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
How Willmar compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Willmar Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Willmar workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willmar | – | C | B+ | 13 min | $62,280 |
| Willmar Township | 1% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| St. Johns Township | under 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Dovre Township | under 1% | A | D | 19 min | $128,906 |
Same-state neighbors only. Willmar Township and St. Johns Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Willmar’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 Willmar: questions
What is the median household income in Willmar?
$62,280 (±$3,957) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Willmar?
13.1%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Willmar?
13 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Willmar work?
60% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (2%, 88 mi), St. Paul (2%, 96 mi), St. Cloud (1%, 51 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Willmar walkable?
Willmar is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Willmar 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 Willmar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Willmar
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.