Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0Jobs and earnings in Park River, and the trip to work
Working residents average 16 minutes each way, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Park River is better than 21% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (B+). About one in three work in Park River itself; outside it, Grafton draws the most (19%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How Park River earns its Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Park River’s grade up (11.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (1.6%) is left out: Park River’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, Park River could be anywhere from D to C+.
Park River on a workday afternoon
On a workday 398 residents head out to work, 207 work right here, and 424 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 (1.04 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 Park River’s residents
Where Park River clocks in
19% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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 Park River
631 jobs are based in Park River.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Park River, 2013 → 2023: 689 → 631. 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 Park River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Park River: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Park River workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 615 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.
The commute from Park River, by distance
About 19% 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.
Park River is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 657 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). 2.2% of Park River households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Park River’s commuters take a bus or train.
Park River is 3,632nd of 5,400 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,800 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 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Reed Township ND | 1,151 | $131K | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Williston Township ND | 1,116 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 376 | Sundre Township ND | 1,024 | $107K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,630 | Delaware Township PA | 1,622 | $81K | 20.3% | 2.1% | 8% | C− |
| 3,631 | Fall Branch TN | 1,160 | $50K | 19.3% | 0.0% | 1% | C− |
| 3,632 | Park River ND | 1,363 | $69K | 11.3% | 1.6% | 34% | C− |
| 3,633 | Cridersville OH | 1,767 | $55K | 18.2% | 6.5% | 2% | C− |
| 3,634 | Boswell PA | 1,197 | $53K | 13.7% | 1.8% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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 Park River, the top three, the last and three more from North Dakota.
The towns around Park River
The biggest share goes to Kensington Township (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Park River workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park River | – | C− | B+ | 16 min | $69,408 |
| Kensington Township | 5% | — | — | 15 min | — |
| Rushford Township | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kensington Township and Rushford Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Park River’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 Park River: questions
What is the median household income in Park River?
$69,408 (±$7,756) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Park River?
11.3%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Park River?
16 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 Park River work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grafton (19%, 16 mi), Grand Forks (7%, 44 mi), Fargo (7%, 114 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Park River walkable?
Park River is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Park River 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 Park River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Park River
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.