Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0Earning a living in Wishek
The trip to work takes 10 minutes on average, where North Dakota has 18 and the U.S. 26. About one in three stay in Wishek for work; outside it, Ashley is the main destination (20%, 18 miles). 401 jobs are based in Wishek; 302 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Wishek: the figures worth knowing
Wishek and Ashley trade workers both ways
Ashley is the top workplace for Wishek residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Wishek come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Wishek are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 18 across North Dakota. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Dakota 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 302 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of Wishek: the destinations
Where Wishek clocks in
20% of workers
6% 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 trip to work from Wishek: about 10 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wishek workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 407 commuters (the 3% 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.
In and out of Wishek on a workday
On a workday 204 residents head out to work, 98 work right here, and 303 people come in from elsewhere.
About 930 people are in Wishek on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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.
Jobs in Wishek: what the 401 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wishek, 2013 → 2023: 379 → 401. 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 Wishek’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Wishek, by distance
About 28% 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 Wishek: questions
What is the median household income in Wishek?
$69,904 (±$11,529) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wishek?
12.9%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wishek?
10 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wishek work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ashley (20%, 18 mi), Bismarck (6%, 69 mi), Fargo (3%, 136 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wishek 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 Wishek, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wishek
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.