Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Bowman are lower than in 69% of U.S. towns
15.5% of residents are in poverty (North Dakota 10.8%). Bowman grades D for jobs and income and A for walkability. About two in five work in Bowman itself; outside it, Bowman Township draws the most (12%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bowman at work: what stands out
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Bowman are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 18 across North Dakota. That’s about 46 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 673 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Bowman
On income, poverty and job access, Bowman is better than 11% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Bowman’s grade up ($62,786, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.7%) is left out: Bowman’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, Bowman could be anywhere from D to C−.
Where in the region Bowman works
About 34% 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.
About 12 minutes each way for Bowman’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bowman workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 750 commuters (the 3% 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.
A workday in Bowman: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 387 residents head out to work, 286 work right here, and 478 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 (1.14 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 Bowman goes to work
Where Bowman clocks in
12% of workers
6% 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.
The 764 jobs based in Bowman
764 jobs are based in Bowman.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bowman, 2013 → 2023: 939 → 764. 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 Bowman’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Bowman
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bowman is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.2% across North Dakota, on an EPA index of 8.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 775 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). 5.4% of Bowman households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Bowman’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Bowman is 4,385th of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Reed Township ND | 1,151 | $131K | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Williston Township ND | 1,116 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 376 | Sundre Township ND | 1,024 | $107K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,383 | North Shenango Township PA | 1,279 | $52K | 11.4% | 4.7% | 7% | D |
| 4,384 | Remerton GA | 1,291 | $27K | 41.3% | 5.5% | 1% | D |
| 4,385 | Bowman ND | 1,357 | $63K | 15.5% | 2.7% | 42% | D |
| 4,386 | Rockaway Beach OR | 1,455 | $54K | 11.3% | 6.7% | 8% | D |
| 4,387 | Hughes Springs TX | 1,531 | $53K | 19.6% | 0.5% | 18% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Bowman, the top three, the last and three more from North Dakota.
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 Bowman: questions
What is the median household income in Bowman?
$62,786 (±$3,495) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bowman?
15.5%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bowman?
12 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bowman work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bowman Township (12%, 3 mi), Dickinson (6%, 57 mi), Fargo (4%, 316 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bowman walkable?
Bowman is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bowman without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bowman, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bowman
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.