Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0About two in five of Flasher’s working residents commute to Bismarck
Only 4% stay in Flasher for work; outside it, Bismarck is the main destination (44%, 33 miles). Working residents average 18 minutes each way, about the same as across North Dakota. Employers in Flasher report 106 jobs; 98 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Flasher, and who commutes in
On a workday 94 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 102 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 (1.08 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 Flasher’s residents
Where Flasher clocks in
44% of workers
11% 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 Flasher
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Flasher, 2013 → 2023: 111 → 106. 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 Flasher’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Flasher: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Flasher workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 97 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.
How far it is to work from Flasher
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 Flasher: questions
What is the median household income in Flasher?
$44,583 (±$7,809) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Flasher?
8.3%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Flasher?
18 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 Flasher work?
4% work in town.
Can you get around Flasher 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 Flasher, from the people who make the trip.
More of Flasher
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.