Work & commute · Wahpeton

Work & commute in Wahpeton, IA

Most working residents leave Wahpeton for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Milford (16%), Spirit Lake (16%) and Spencer (10%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 124 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 123 Wahpeton residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 54 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wahpeton.

123live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

54work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wahpeton goes to work

Milford2.5 mi away

16%20

Spirit Lake4.5 mi away

16%20

Spencer15.4 mi away

10%12

Estherville17.3 mi away

5%6

Arnolds Park2.4 mi away

3%4

Sioux City86.1 mi away

3%4

Sioux Falls, SD78.9 mi away

3%4

Sheldon36 mi away

2%3

Ankeny138.7 mi away

2%3

Cherokee46.9 mi away

2%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%46

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Wahpeton commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

46%

18%

27%

46%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wahpeton is a commuter town

0.44jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.44 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Wahpeton are

55 jobs are based in Wahpeton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wahpeton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wahpeton

55 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities0%

Services (health, schools, offices…)87%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Wahpeton residents hold

124 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+31%

Jobs based in Wahpeton, 2013 → 2023: 42 → 55. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.