Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0For about two in three of its working residents, Thompson is a commute to Grand Forks
Only 2% work in Thompson; the top destination outside it is Grand Forks (63%, 10 miles). Jobs and income earn Thompson A−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Household incomes here are higher than in 87% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Thompson: the figures worth knowing
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Thompson
On income, poverty and job access, Thompson is better than 84% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Thompson’s grade up (1.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 35% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (0.6%) is left out: Thompson’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, Thompson could be anywhere from A− to A.
Where the trip to work from Thompson ends
Where Thompson clocks in
63% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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 daily flow of workers through Thompson
On a workday 528 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 178 people come in from elsewhere.
About 750 people are in Thompson on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.35 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.
Jobs in Thompson: what the 187 are
187 jobs are based in Thompson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thompson, 2013 → 2023: 142 → 187. 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 Thompson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Thompson’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thompson workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 588 commuters (the 8% 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.
Thompson’s commute, mile by mile
About 17% 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.
For most of Thompson, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Thompson is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.4% 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 642 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.1% of Thompson households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Thompson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500, Thompson ranks 257th of 3,771 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Reed Township ND | 1,151 | $131K | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 122 | Williston Township ND | 1,116 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 240 | Sundre Township ND | 1,024 | $107K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 255 | Baltic SD | 1,344 | $108K | 1.2% | 2.7% | 2% | A− |
| 256 | Nekimi WI | 1,335 | $97K | 5.0% | 3.3% | 1% | A− |
| 257 | Thompson ND | 1,100 | $118K | 1.5% | 0.6% | 2% | A− |
| 258 | Palm Valley TX | 1,340 | $99K | 2.6% | 4.2% | 2% | A− |
| 259 | Cannon City Township MN | 1,273 | $102K | 3.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Thompson, the top three, the last and three more from North Dakota.
Work in the towns next to Thompson
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Thompson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thompson | – | A− | B+ | 21 min | $118,281 |
| Walle Township | under 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Allendale Township | under 1% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Walle Township and Allendale Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Thompson’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 Thompson: questions
What is the median household income in Thompson?
$118,281 (±$16,675) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thompson?
1.5%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thompson?
21 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thompson work?
2% work in town.
Is Thompson walkable?
Thompson is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thompson without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thompson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thompson
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.