Valley City Municipal Auditorium · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Valley City has lower household incomes than 73% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 16.7% of residents, against 10.8% across North Dakota. Jobs and income earn Valley City C−; getting around on foot earns it A. More than half work in Valley City; the top destination outside it is Fargo (11%, 56 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Valley City, in brief
Valley City’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Valley City is Fargo, 56 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (354) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Valley City go to people who live here
Of the 3,459 jobs based in Valley City, 49% are held by Valley City residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 Valley City’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Valley City is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #23 of 23 in North Dakota. Unemployment holds Valley City’s grade up (4.9%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Valley City could be anywhere from D to C+.
Miles to work from Valley City
About 31% 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.
Valley City on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,371 residents head out to work, 1,709 work right here, and 1,750 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 (1.12 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 Valley City: the destinations
Where Valley City clocks in
11% of workers
4% 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 Valley City’s employers do
3,459 jobs are based in Valley City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Valley City, 2013 → 2023: 3,747 → 3,459. 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 Valley City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 16 minutes to work from Valley City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Valley City workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,950 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.
Valley City is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Valley City is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #5 of 23 in North Dakota. Both inputs place Valley City near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,058 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). 9.2% of Valley City households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Valley City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Valley City next to U.S. towns of 4,500 to 8,700: 2,851st of 3,306 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 163 | Horace ND | 7,001 | $139K | 4.3% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,164 | Watford City ND | 6,378 | $102K | 7.8% | 0.6% | 38% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,805 | Minot AFB ND | 4,878 | $63K | 1.2% | 6.1% | 9% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,849 | Sonora CA | 4,866 | $83K | 16.9% | 12.4% | 16% | C− |
| 2,850 | Hillsdale MI | 8,002 | $51K | 22.9% | 4.4% | 29% | C− |
| 2,851 | Valley City ND | 6,430 | $60K | 16.7% | 4.9% | 55% | C− |
| 2,852 | Homer AK | 6,331 | $74K | 11.8% | 8.7% | — | C− |
| 2,853 | Flora IL | 4,634 | $47K | 18.9% | 4.0% | 38% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,306 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Valley City, the top three, the last and three more from North Dakota.
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 Valley City: questions
What is the median household income in Valley City?
$60,339 (±$9,613) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Valley City?
16.7%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Valley City?
16 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 Valley City work?
55% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fargo (11%, 56 mi), Jamestown (4%, 33 mi), Bismarck (4%, 131 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Valley City walkable?
Valley City is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Valley City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Valley City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Valley City
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.