Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Dickinson has lower unemployment (3.2%) than 66% of U.S. towns
More than half stay in Dickinson for work; outside it, Bismarck is the main destination (6%, 96 miles). Jobs and income earn Dickinson B−; getting around on foot earns it B. Commuters spend 16 minutes getting to work on average; North Dakota averages 18, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Dickinson apart on work
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Dickinson
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dickinson is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #16 of 23 in North Dakota. Unemployment holds Dickinson’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (13.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dickinson could be anywhere from C+ to B.
Dickinson on a workday afternoon
On a workday 6,088 residents head out to work, 6,490 work right here, and 5,009 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 (0.91 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 Dickinson: the destinations
Where Dickinson clocks in
6% of workers
2% 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 the 11,499 jobs in Dickinson are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dickinson, 2013 → 2023: 13,283 → 11,499. 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 Dickinson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Dickinson: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dickinson workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,167 commuters (the 5% 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 far it is to work from Dickinson
About 26% 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.
The commute in Dickinson is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dickinson is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #15 of 23 in North Dakota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 12,767 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). 9.1% of Dickinson households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Dickinson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Dickinson places 1,083rd of 1,576 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 795 | Mandan ND | 25,061 | $72K | 9.8% | 1.5% | 25% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,077 | Williston ND | 29,522 | $79K | 8.1% | 4.9% | 57% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,081 | Sanford ME | 22,663 | $73K | 10.3% | 3.7% | 22% | B− |
| 1,082 | Wood River Township IL | 29,456 | $62K | 14.2% | 3.9% | 17% | B− |
| 1,083 | Dickinson ND | 25,870 | $83K | 13.6% | 3.2% | 52% | B− |
| 1,084 | Kingsland GA | 21,299 | $78K | 10.7% | 3.2% | 20% | B− |
| 1,085 | Ozark MO | 23,544 | $74K | 12.6% | 4.3% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Dickinson, 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 Dickinson: questions
What is the median household income in Dickinson?
$82,696 (±$4,097) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dickinson?
13.6%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dickinson?
16 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dickinson work?
52% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bismarck (6%, 96 mi), Killdeer (3%, 33 mi), Williston (2%, 98 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dickinson walkable?
Dickinson is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dickinson without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dickinson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dickinson
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.