Work & commute · Cottonwood

Work & commute in Cottonwood, MN

Most working residents leave Cottonwood for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Marshall (38%), Minneota (9%) and Canby (2%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

66 of 561 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

14 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 495 Cottonwood residents head out of town to work, 66 work right here, and 559 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cottonwood.

495live here, work elsewhere

66live and work here

559work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cottonwood goes to work

Marshall12.5 mi away

38%213

Cottonwood (in town)right here

12%66

Minneota15.3 mi away

9%50

Canby29.9 mi away

2%14

Granite Falls15.1 mi away

2%13

Taunton18.9 mi away

1%8

Clarkfield13.8 mi away

1%7

St. Paul128.5 mi away

1%6

Minneapolis120.7 mi away

1%6

Dawson28.5 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%173

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

How far

How far Cottonwood commutes

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

14%

59%

18%

14%Under 10 mi

59%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cottonwood is balanced between jobs and homes

1.11jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.11 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cottonwood are

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

Jobs based in Cottonwood

625 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs Cottonwood residents hold

561 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+33%

Jobs based in Cottonwood, 2013 → 2023: 469 → 625. 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.