Ray Opera House · Photo: Andrew Filer (afiler) · CC BY-SA 2.0Ray at work: jobs, income and the commute
The average commute takes 26 minutes each way, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. Only 6% stay in Ray for work; outside it, Williston is the main destination (39%, 24 miles). 234 jobs are based in Ray; 382 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ray at work: what stands out
Ray and Williston trade workers both ways
Williston is the top workplace for Ray residents (39%) and also where the most people who work in Ray come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Ray than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Ray fell from 605 in 2013 to 234 in 2023, −61%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Ray workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 26 minutes each way, against 18 across North Dakota. Over a year that’s about 199 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 382 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Ray goes to work
Where Ray clocks in
39% 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.
Jobs in Ray: what the 234 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ray, 2013 → 2023: 605 → 234. 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 Ray’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Ray: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ray workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 345 commuters (the 7% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Ray
On a workday 359 residents head out to work, 23 work right here, and 211 people come in from elsewhere.
About 620 people are in Ray on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.61 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 2023, primary jobs.
How far Ray goes to work
About 20% 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 Ray: questions
What is the median household income in Ray?
$72,031 (±$20,408) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ray?
12.3%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ray?
26 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ray work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Williston (39%, 24 mi), Williston Township (6%, 27 mi), Minot (5%, 87 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Ray without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ray
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.