How Center works: jobs, income and commuting
The trip to work takes 31 minutes on average; North Dakota averages 18, the U.S. 26. About one in seven work in Center itself; outside it, Bismarck draws the most (24%, 32 miles). Employers in Center report 202 jobs, and 204 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Center
Center’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Center is Bismarck, 33 miles away as the crow flies. 24% of working residents (49) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Center workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 18 across North Dakota. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 100 more than the state’s typical 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 204 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Center
About 19% 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.
Time on the road from Center: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Center workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 190 commuters (the 10% 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.
Center by day and by night
On a workday 177 residents head out to work, 27 work right here, and 175 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 (0.99 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.
Commuting out of Center: the destinations
Where Center clocks in
24% of workers
7% 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.
What Center’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Center, 2013 → 2023: 277 → 202. 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 Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Center: questions
What is the median household income in Center?
$77,083 (±$17,288) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Center?
3.2%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Center?
31 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Center work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bismarck (24%, 32 mi), Mandan (7%, 28 mi), Washburn (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Center without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Center
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.