Photo: Elcajonfarms at en.wikipedia · CC BY 3.0Jobs and the daily commute in Velva
Home is the office for 1% of workers; North Dakota has 8%. Velva grades C+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in seven work in Velva; the top destination outside it is Minot (23%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Velva at work: what stands out
Velva and Minot trade workers both ways
Minot is the top workplace for Velva residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Velva come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 ↓
Velva workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 24 minutes each way, against 18 across North Dakota. Over a year that’s about 184 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 455 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Velva
On income, poverty and job access, Velva is better than 40% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Velva’s grade up ($83,060, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (1.6%) is left out: Velva’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, Velva could be anywhere from C− to B.
Commuting out of Velva: the destinations
Where Velva clocks in
10% 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.
Where in the region Velva works
About 39% 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.
About 24 minutes each way, longer than most of North Dakota
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Velva workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 495 commuters (the 1% 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.
Who leaves Velva for work, and who comes in
On a workday 382 residents head out to work, 73 work right here, and 341 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 (0.91 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.
The 414 jobs based in Velva
414 jobs are based in Velva.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Velva, 2013 → 2023: 404 → 414. 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 Velva’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Velva is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Velva is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.2% across North Dakota, on an EPA index of 6.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 502 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). 5.1% of Velva households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Velva’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400, Velva comes 1,371st 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Reed Township ND | 1,151 | $131K | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Williston Township ND | 1,116 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Sundre Township ND | 1,024 | $107K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,369 | Bashaw WI | 1,080 | $78K | 7.3% | 6.7% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,370 | Malta IL | 1,140 | $81K | 24.0% | 2.9% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,371 | Velva ND | 1,046 | $83K | 8.2% | 1.6% | 16% | C+ |
| 1,372 | New Salem ND | 1,082 | $70K | 6.9% | 2.1% | 15% | C+ |
| 1,373 | Guthrie Township IN | 1,316 | $60K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Velva, 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 Velva: questions
What is the median household income in Velva?
$83,060 (±$12,906) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Velva?
8.2%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Velva?
24 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Velva work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minot (23%, 20 mi), Bismarck (10%, 86 mi), Fargo (4%, 209 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Velva walkable?
Velva is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Velva without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Velva, from the people who make the trip.
More of Velva
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.