Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Where Carson earns its living
A typical one-way commute lasts 26 minutes; North Dakota averages 18, the U.S. 26. About one in ten work in Carson itself; outside it, Elgin draws the most (19%, 13 miles). There are 130 jobs in Carson for 88 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves Carson for work, and who comes in
On a workday 80 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 122 people come in from elsewhere.
About 280 people are in Carson on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 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 Carson goes to work
Where Carson clocks in
16% of workers
6% 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 Carson
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carson, 2013 → 2023: 140 → 130. 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 Carson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Carson: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carson workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 145 commuters (the 4% 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.
How many miles Carson commutes
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.
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 Carson: questions
What is the median household income in Carson?
$43,750 (±$15,671) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carson?
23.4%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carson?
26 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carson work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elgin (19%, 13 mi), Bismarck (16%, 47 mi), Dickinson (6%, 67 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Carson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carson
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.