Photo: Matt Zimmerman · CC BY 2.0Carrington has lower unemployment (1.4%) than 91% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute from Carrington lasts 11 minutes (North Dakota 18, U.S. 26). Jobs and income earn Carrington B−; getting around on foot earns it B+. About half stay in Carrington for work; outside it, Fargo is the main destination (7%, 116 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Carrington
Carrington’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carrington is better than 51% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Carrington’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carrington could be anywhere from C to B+.
Time on the road from Carrington: about 11 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carrington workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,089 commuters (the 6% 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.
Who leaves Carrington for work, and who comes in
On a workday 486 residents head out to work, 402 work right here, and 705 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Carrington on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 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.
The towns that employ Carrington’s residents
Where Carrington clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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 kinds of work in Carrington
1,107 jobs are based in Carrington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carrington, 2013 → 2023: 990 → 1,107. 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 Carrington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Carrington
About 28% 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.
Most of Carrington commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carrington is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.2% across North Dakota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,164 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). 12.2% of Carrington households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Carrington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Carrington next to U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600: 2,053rd of 5,234 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 544 | Mapleton ND | 1,496 | $119K | 1.9% | 0.8% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 584 | Surrey ND | 1,450 | $106K | 1.4% | 3.4% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 705 | Harrison Township ND | 1,734 | $122K | 5.1% | 5.2% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,051 | Milford Township PA | 1,962 | $66K | 6.9% | 2.3% | 4% | B− |
| 2,052 | Villa Grove IL | 2,447 | $71K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 8% | B− |
| 2,053 | Carrington ND | 1,950 | $77K | 9.7% | 1.4% | 45% | B− |
| 2,054 | Darien WI | 1,530 | $63K | 9.6% | 5.7% | 5% | B− |
| 2,055 | Marion Township IN | 1,425 | $80K | 7.4% | 15.7% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Carrington, the top three, the last and three more from North Dakota.
Next door to Carrington
The biggest share goes to Carrington Township (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carrington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrington | – | B− | B+ | 11 min | $77,171 |
| Carrington Township | 5% | — | — | 6 min | — |
| Wyard Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Carrington Township and Wyard Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Carrington’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 Carrington: questions
What is the median household income in Carrington?
$77,171 (±$9,248) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carrington?
9.7%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carrington?
11 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carrington work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fargo (7%, 116 mi), New Rockford (5%, 16 mi), Carrington Township (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carrington walkable?
Carrington is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carrington without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carrington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carrington
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.