Hay Creek Township has higher household incomes than 96% of U.S. towns
0.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.8% across North Dakota. The two grades for Hay Creek Township are A+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. For 18% of workers, the job is at home, against 8% across North Dakota.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hay Creek Township at work: what stands out
More than half of Hay Creek Township works in Bismarck
1,555 working residents, 69%, have their main job in Bismarck, 4.3 miles away across the town line. That’s 69 times as many as work in Hay Creek Township itself. The commute map ↓
Most Hay Creek Township residents work close to home
79% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Hay Creek Township’s working residents have a job less than 6 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 20 minutes, longer than the North Dakota average of 18. Time on the road ↓
Hay Creek Township is a place people come home to
There are 538 jobs based in Hay Creek Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Hay Creek Township has about 2,700 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Hay Creek Township
18% of Hay Creek Township workers work from home, against 8% across North Dakota. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Hay Creek Township’s grade explained
The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hay Creek Township could be anywhere from A to A+.
69% of working residents work in Bismarck
Where Hay Creek Township clocks in
69% of workers
7% of workers
4% 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.
How far it is to work from Hay Creek Township
About 17% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Hay Creek Township’s commute takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hay Creek Township workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,611 commuters (the 18% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Hay Creek Township
On a workday 2,226 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 512 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Hay Creek Township on a workday afternoon, 39% fewer than live here.
0.24 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
30% of the jobs in Hay Creek Township make or build things
538 jobs are based in Hay Creek Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hay Creek Township, 2014 → 2024: 656 → 538. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hay Creek Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Hay Creek Township, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hay Creek Township is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns, #21 of 23 in North Dakota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,959 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). 2.4% of Hay Creek Township households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hay Creek Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,100 to 5,900, Hay Creek Township ranks 159th of 3,908 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 157 | Metamora IL | 3,857 | $129K | 3.6% | 0.0% | 13% | A+ |
| 158 | Spring Lake Township MN | 3,498 | $147K | 5.3% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| 159 | Hay Creek Township ND | 4,380 | $161K | 0.7% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| 160 | Springfield Township PA | 5,246 | $123K | 2.7% | 2.3% | 5% | A+ |
| 161 | Beecher IL | 4,740 | $103K | 2.7% | 1.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 296 | Apple Creek Township ND | 3,515 | $157K | 2.2% | 1.9% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 767 | Lincoln ND | 4,493 | $88K | 5.6% | 1.1% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,015 | Minot AFB ND | 4,878 | $63K | 1.2% | 6.1% | 8% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,908 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Hay Creek Township, the top three, the last and three more from North Dakota.
The towns next door employ 69% of Hay Creek Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hay Creek Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hay Creek Township | – | A+ | C− | 20 min | $160,553 |
| Bismarck | 69% | B+ | B+ | 16 min | $78,387 |
| Gibbs Township | under 1% | A | D | 23 min | $155,688 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bismarck. Darker towns draw more of Hay Creek Township’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 2024, 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 Hay Creek Township: questions
What is the median household income in Hay Creek Township?
$160,553 (±$32,703) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hay Creek Township?
0.7%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hay Creek Township?
20 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hay Creek Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bismarck (69%, 4 mi), Mandan (7%, 5 mi), Fargo (4%, 188 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Hay Creek Township walkable?
Hay Creek Township is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hay Creek Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hay Creek Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hay Creek Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.