Work & commute · Cosmos

Work & commute in Cosmos, MN

Most working residents leave Cosmos for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Willmar (14%), Litchfield (13%) and Hutchinson (6%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

5 of 257 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 252 Cosmos residents head out of town to work, 5 work right here, and 64 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cosmos.

252live here, work elsewhere

5live and work here

64work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cosmos goes to work

Willmar21.9 mi away

14%37

Litchfield15.3 mi away

13%34

Hutchinson16 mi away

6%15

Grove City14.8 mi away

5%13

Paynesville30.6 mi away

4%9

Cosmos (in town)right here

2%5

Atwater14.4 mi away

2%5

New Ulm44.5 mi away

2%5

St. Cloud48.1 mi away

2%5

St. Paul77.8 mi away

2%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%124

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

How far

How far Cosmos commutes

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

55%

18%

24%

4%Under 10 mi

55%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cosmos 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 Cosmos are

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

Jobs based in Cosmos

69 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities74%

Services (health, schools, offices…)26%

$1,250 a month or less36%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month32%

Jobs Cosmos residents hold

257 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)40%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−36%

Jobs based in Cosmos, 2013 → 2023: 107 → 69. 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.