Photo: In memoriam afiler · CC BY-SA 2.0How Mekinock Township works: jobs, income and commuting
Jobs and income earn Mekinock Township B−; getting around on foot earns it B−. About one in ten work in Mekinock Township itself; outside it, Grand Forks draws the most (35%, 16 miles). The trip to work takes 11 minutes on average; North Dakota averages 18, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Mekinock Township apart
Mekinock Township and Grand Forks trade workers both ways
Grand Forks is the top workplace for Mekinock Township residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Mekinock Township come from (30% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
43% 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 ↓
The jobs in Mekinock Township pay better than its residents’ jobs
74% of the jobs based in Mekinock Township pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 57% of the jobs Mekinock Township residents hold. 91% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Mekinock Township. 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 310 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Mekinock Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Mekinock Township is better than 54% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Mekinock Township’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 19% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.9%) is left out: Mekinock Township’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, Mekinock Township could be anywhere from B− to B.
Where Mekinock Township’s working residents head each day
Where Mekinock Township clocks in
35% of workers
15% of workers
9% 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 Mekinock Township
About 43% 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.
In Mekinock Township, services account for most jobs
317 jobs are based in Mekinock Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mekinock Township, 2013 → 2023: 136 → 317. 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 Mekinock Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Mekinock Township
On a workday 282 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 289 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 (1.02 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 daily trip from Mekinock Township: about 11 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mekinock Township workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,028 commuters (the 8% 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.
Most of Mekinock Township commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mekinock Township is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.2% across North Dakota, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,122 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.8% of Mekinock Township households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mekinock Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Mekinock Township is 2,052nd of 5,404 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 389 | Gibbs Township ND | 2,856 | $156K | 1.4% | 2.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 765 | Harrison Township ND | 1,734 | $122K | 5.1% | 5.2% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,101 | Casselton ND | 2,485 | $73K | 7.1% | 0.9% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,050 | Jackson Township IN | 1,777 | $86K | 8.1% | 7.8% | 5% | B− |
| 2,051 | Columbia NY | 1,584 | $91K | 7.5% | 4.8% | 1% | B− |
| 2,052 | Mekinock Township ND | 2,175 | $74K | 3.5% | 2.9% | 9% | B− |
| 2,053 | Drumore Township PA | 2,635 | $83K | 8.7% | 4.0% | 4% | B− |
| 2,054 | Cheswold DE | 2,653 | $87K | 7.2% | 7.2% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Mekinock Township, the top three, the last and three more from North Dakota.
Mekinock Township and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mekinock Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mekinock Township | – | B− | B− | 11 min | $73,992 |
| Hegton Township | under 1% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Gilby Township | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Chester Township | under 1% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Blooming Township | under 1% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Lakeville Township | under 1% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Hegton Township, Gilby Township, Chester Township, Blooming Township and Lakeville Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mekinock 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 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 Mekinock Township: questions
What is the median household income in Mekinock Township?
$73,992 (±$4,770) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mekinock Township?
3.5%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mekinock Township?
11 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mekinock Township work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Forks (35%, 16 mi), Fargo (15%, 82 mi), Grand Forks AFB (9%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mekinock Township walkable?
Mekinock Township is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mekinock Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mekinock Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mekinock Township
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.