Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Ellendale are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns
13.2% of residents are in poverty, where North Dakota as a whole has 10.8%. The two grades for Ellendale are D for jobs and income and A for walkability. About two in five work in Ellendale itself; outside it, Fargo draws the most (8%, 100 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ellendale at work: what stands out
Ellendale’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ellendale is Fargo, 100 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (39) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Ellendale than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Ellendale fell from 593 in 2013 to 435 in 2023, −27%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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 487 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Ellendale: the grade in detail
The poverty rate holds Ellendale’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (5.4%) is left out: Ellendale’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, Ellendale could be anywhere from D− to C.
Where in the region Ellendale works
About 33% 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 work there is in Ellendale: 435 jobs
435 jobs are based in Ellendale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ellendale, 2013 → 2023: 593 → 435. 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 Ellendale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Ellendale on a workday afternoon
On a workday 295 residents head out to work, 192 work right here, and 243 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 (0.89 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.
Out of Ellendale to work: where people go
Where Ellendale clocks in
8% 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.
From Ellendale, about 13 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ellendale workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 479 commuters (the 7% 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.
Ellendale is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ellendale is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 15.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.2% across North Dakota, on an EPA index of 8.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 514 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). 1.4% of Ellendale households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ellendale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Ellendale is 3,179th among 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Reed Township ND | 1,151 | $131K | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 122 | Williston Township ND | 1,116 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 240 | Sundre Township ND | 1,024 | $107K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,177 | Guthrie KY | 1,395 | $36K | 33.0% | 16.5% | 8% | D |
| 3,178 | Sarcoxie MO | 1,429 | $42K | 25.4% | 5.8% | 6% | D |
| 3,179 | Ellendale ND | 1,129 | $55K | 13.2% | 5.4% | 39% | D |
| 3,180 | Boise City OK | 1,040 | $43K | 10.4% | 0.0% | 0% | D |
| 3,181 | Locust Grove OK | 1,397 | $49K | 18.1% | 3.5% | 13% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Ellendale, 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 Ellendale: questions
What is the median household income in Ellendale?
$54,643 (±$12,444) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ellendale?
13.2%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ellendale?
13 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ellendale work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fargo (8%, 100 mi), Ellendale Township (6%, 3 mi), Aberdeen (5%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ellendale walkable?
Ellendale is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ellendale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ellendale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ellendale
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.