Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Pembina has 2.0 jobs for every working resident: 326 people commute in to work
The average commute takes 9 minutes each way, next to 18 for North Dakota and 26 for the U.S. There are 387 jobs in Pembina, against 189 working residents. About one in three work in Pembina; the top destination outside it is Neche (12%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Pembina, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 128 residents head out to work and 61 work right here.
About 690 people are in Pembina on a workday afternoon, 40% more than live here.
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 Pembina’s workers come from
Where Pembina clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
A place that makes things: 33% of Pembina’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pembina, 2013 → 2023: 507 → 387. 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 Pembina’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Pembina spends getting to work: about 9 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 2.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pembina workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 271 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Pembina
About 29% 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 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 Pembina: questions
What is the median household income in Pembina?
$101,875 (±$9,677) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pembina?
7.7%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pembina?
9 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 Pembina work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Neche (12%, 14 mi), Cavalier (7%, 21 mi), Fargo (6%, 146 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Pembina 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 Pembina, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pembina
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.