Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Fargo draws about three in four of Frontier’s working residents
Working residents average 21 minutes each way, where North Dakota has 18 and the U.S. 26. Hardly any work in Frontier; the top destination outside it is Fargo (76%, 4 miles). There are 87 jobs in Frontier; 98 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Frontier on a workday afternoon
On a workday 98 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 87 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.
Where people from Frontier work
Where Frontier clocks in
76% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
Frontier makes things: 31% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Frontier, 2013 → 2023: 46 → 87. 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 Frontier’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Frontier: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Frontier workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 76 commuters (the 14% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Frontier
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.
78% of Frontier works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Fargo. Darker towns draw more of Frontier’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Frontier: questions
What is the median household income in Frontier?
$122,500 (±$42,781) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Frontier?
3.0%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Frontier?
21 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Frontier work?
0% work in town.
Can you get around Frontier without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Frontier, from the people who make the trip.
More of Frontier
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.