Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Rugby (0.5%) is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Rugby is behind 87% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Rugby is better than 32% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−). About two in five work in Rugby; the top destination outside it is Fargo (5%, 180 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Rugby apart on work
Commutes from Rugby are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 18 across North Dakota. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Dakota worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
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.
The figures behind Rugby’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Rugby’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rugby could be anywhere from C− to B−.
About 11 minutes each way for Rugby’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rugby workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,162 commuters (the 5% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Rugby
About 33% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Rugby
On a workday 552 residents head out to work, 449 work right here, and 696 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 (1.14 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.
Where Rugby goes to work
Where Rugby clocks in
5% 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.
What work there is in Rugby: 1,145 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rugby, 2013 → 2023: 1,375 → 1,145. 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 Rugby’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Rugby is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.2% of 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 1,228 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). 2.5% of Rugby households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rugby’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rugby ranks: 3,325th of 5,207 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 400 | Gibbs Township ND | 2,856 | $156K | 1.4% | 2.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 798 | Harrison Township ND | 1,734 | $122K | 5.1% | 5.2% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,159 | Casselton ND | 2,485 | $73K | 7.1% | 0.9% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,323 | Rose NY | 2,260 | $76K | 8.1% | 6.9% | 5% | C |
| 3,324 | Clifton Springs NY | 2,170 | $65K | 17.9% | 3.0% | 10% | C |
| 3,325 | Rugby ND | 2,412 | $50K | 13.0% | 0.5% | 45% | C |
| 3,326 | Conquest NY | 1,752 | $82K | 18.0% | 3.0% | 1% | C |
| 3,327 | Sterling NY | 3,157 | $60K | 14.1% | 2.6% | 7% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | 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 Rugby, the top three, the last and three more from North Dakota.
Rugby and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rugby workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rugby | – | C | A− | 11 min | $50,365 |
| Torgerson Township | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Meyer Township | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Torgerson Township and Meyer Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rugby’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 Rugby: questions
What is the median household income in Rugby?
$50,365 (±$10,908) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rugby?
13.0%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rugby?
11 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rugby work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fargo (5%, 180 mi), Minot (5%, 60 mi), Bismarck (4%, 113 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rugby walkable?
Rugby is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rugby 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 Rugby, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rugby
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.