Work & commute · Birch Lake

Work & commute in Birch Lake, MN

Most working residents leave Birch Lake for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Walker (9%), Hackensack (7%) and Shingobee (6%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4 of 216 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 212 Birch Lake residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 54 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Birch Lake.

212live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

54work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Birch Lake goes to work

Walker11.3 mi away

9%20

Hackensack3.8 mi away

7%16

Shingobee10.7 mi away

6%13

Pine River16.3 mi away

4%8

Brainerd43.2 mi away

4%8

Backus9.9 mi away

3%7

Longville11.3 mi away

3%7

Baxter43.1 mi away

3%6

Minneapolis148.9 mi away

3%6

Powers7.4 mi away

3%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

55%119

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

How far

How far Birch Lake commutes

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

20%

29%

20%

31%

20%Under 10 mi

29%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Birch Lake is a commuter town

0.27jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Birch Lake are

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

Jobs based in Birch Lake

58 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)48%

Trade, transport & utilities36%

Services (health, schools, offices…)16%

$1,250 a month or less29%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Birch Lake residents hold

216 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month46%

−9%

Jobs based in Birch Lake, 2013 → 2023: 64 → 58. 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.