Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0Ashley at work: jobs, income and the commute
A typical one-way commute lasts 9 minutes, where North Dakota has 18 and the U.S. 26. About one in five work in Ashley; the top destination outside it is Wishek (34%, 18 miles). Ashley has 285 jobs, against 222 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Ashley apart on work
Ashley and Wishek trade workers both ways
Wishek is the top workplace for Ashley residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Ashley come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Ashley are quick
The average trip to work takes 9 minutes, against 18 across North Dakota. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Dakota worker. 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 222 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Out of Ashley to work: where people go
Where Ashley clocks in
34% of workers
4% 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.
Time on the road from Ashley: about 9 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashley workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 276 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across North Dakota: 85% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily flow of workers through Ashley
On a workday 172 residents head out to work, 50 work right here, and 235 people come in from elsewhere.
About 660 people are in Ashley on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 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.
What Ashley’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashley, 2013 → 2023: 349 → 285. 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 Ashley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Ashley
About 25% 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 Ashley: questions
What is the median household income in Ashley?
$42,540 (±$4,959) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashley?
13.2%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashley?
9 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashley work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wishek (34%, 18 mi), Fargo (4%, 134 mi), Bismarck (4%, 86 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Ashley 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 Ashley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ashley
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.