Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Tolna at work: jobs, income and the commute
Hardly any work in Tolna; the top destination outside it is Lakota (31%, 16 miles). The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average; North Dakota averages 18, the U.S. 26. Tolna has 62 jobs, and 52 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Tolna, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 52 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 62 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 (1.19 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.
Commuting out of Tolna: the destinations
Where Tolna clocks in
31% of workers
12% of workers
10% 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 Tolna’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tolna, 2013 → 2023: 65 → 62. 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 Tolna’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Tolna: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tolna workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 49 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.
Tolna’s commute, mile by mile
About 35% 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 Tolna: questions
What is the median household income in Tolna?
$39,821 (±$8,407) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tolna?
13.7%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tolna?
18 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 Tolna work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lakota (31%, 16 mi), Grand Forks (12%, 63 mi), Devils Lake (10%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Tolna without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tolna, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tolna
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.