For more than half of its working residents, Sawyer is a commute to Minot
There are 36 jobs in Sawyer for 158 working residents. Hardly any work in Sawyer; the top destination outside it is Minot (57%, 14 miles). The trip to work takes 19 minutes on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Sawyer
On a workday 157 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 35 people come in from elsewhere.
About 190 people are in Sawyer on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
0.23 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.
Out of Sawyer to work: where people go
Where Sawyer clocks in
5% 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.
69% of the jobs in Sawyer pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sawyer, 2013 → 2023: 60 → 36. 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 Sawyer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Sawyer
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sawyer workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 159 commuters (the 4% 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.
Sawyer’s commute, mile by mile
About 25% 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 Sawyer: questions
What is the median household income in Sawyer?
$76,250 (±$29,128) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sawyer?
9.0%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sawyer?
19 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sawyer work?
1% work in town.
Can you get around Sawyer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sawyer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sawyer
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.