Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Garrison
The average commute takes 21 minutes each way (North Dakota 18, U.S. 26). Jobs and income earn Garrison C+; getting around on foot earns it B−. About one in four stay in Garrison for work; outside it, Bismarck is the main destination (9%, 66 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Garrison apart
Garrison’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Garrison is Bismarck, 66 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (49) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
Many jobs in Garrison pay little
26% of the jobs based in Garrison pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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 538 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Garrison
On income, poverty and job access, Garrison is better than 35% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Garrison’s grade up (6.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Garrison’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, Garrison could be anywhere from C− to B−.
How many miles Garrison commutes
About 35% 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 Garrison’s employers do
578 jobs are based in Garrison.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garrison, 2013 → 2023: 712 → 578. 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 Garrison’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Garrison
On a workday 400 residents head out to work, 138 work right here, and 440 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 (1.07 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 Garrison goes to work
Where Garrison clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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.
Getting to work from Garrison takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garrison workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 523 commuters (the 4% 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.
In Garrison, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Garrison is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 542 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). 4.0% of Garrison households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Garrison’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000, Garrison ranks 3,209th of 6,308 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Reed Township ND | 1,151 | $131K | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 237 | Williston Township ND | 1,116 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 455 | Sundre Township ND | 1,024 | $107K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,207 | Kingsley IA | 1,373 | $73K | 10.0% | 0.5% | 10% | C+ |
| 3,208 | Slayton MN | 1,930 | $62K | 14.3% | 1.8% | 32% | C+ |
| 3,209 | Garrison ND | 1,446 | $72K | 6.5% | 0.0% | 26% | C+ |
| 3,210 | Rome Township IL | 1,624 | $62K | 8.1% | 4.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 3,211 | Franconia NH | 1,143 | $87K | 11.4% | 3.2% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Garrison, 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 Garrison: questions
What is the median household income in Garrison?
$71,974 (±$10,479) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garrison?
6.5%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garrison?
21 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garrison work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bismarck (9%, 66 mi), Turtle Lake (8%, 26 mi), Minot (7%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Garrison walkable?
Garrison is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garrison without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garrison, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garrison
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.