Work and commuting in Toronto
Home is the office for 3% of workers; South Dakota has 10%. Only 4% stay in Toronto for work; outside it, Clear Lake is the main destination (20%, 13 miles). A typical one-way commute from Toronto lasts 21 minutes (South Dakota 18, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How many people are in Toronto by day
On a workday 85 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 96 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 Toronto: the destinations
Where Toronto clocks in
20% of workers
19% 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 kinds of work in Toronto
100 jobs are based in Toronto.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Toronto, 2013 → 2023: 100 → 100. 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 Toronto’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes to work from Toronto
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Toronto workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 109 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across South 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.
Half of Toronto commutes less than 30 miles
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.
Next door to Toronto
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Toronto workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | – | — | — | 21 min | $53,125 |
| Scandinavia Township | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Blom Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Scandinavia Township and Blom Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Toronto’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 Toronto: questions
What is the median household income in Toronto?
$53,125 (±$9,299) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Toronto?
2.9%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Toronto?
21 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Toronto work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clear Lake (20%, 13 mi), Watertown (19%, 34 mi), Sioux Falls (11%, 71 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Toronto 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 Toronto, from the people who make the trip.
More of Toronto
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.