Work & commute · Detroit Lakes

Work & commute in Detroit Lakes, MN

56% of Detroit Lakes’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Fargo (5%), Perham (3%) and Moorhead (2%). Half commute less than 3 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

56%

2,473 of 4,441 working residents

Typical commute

3 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

14 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 1,968 Detroit Lakes residents head out of town to work, 2,473 work right here, and 6,461 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Detroit Lakes.

1,968live here, work elsewhere

2,473live and work here

6,461work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Detroit Lakes goes to work

Detroit Lakes (in town)right here

56%2,473

Fargo, ND46.6 mi away

5%213

Perham19.2 mi away

3%129

Moorhead42.6 mi away

2%91

Erie5.8 mi away

2%73

Minneapolis177.8 mi away

1%56

Frazee8.7 mi away

1%53

Fergus Falls37.7 mi away

1%51

Mahnomen35.5 mi away

1%47

Lake View4.1 mi away

1%44

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%1,211

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

How far

How far Detroit Lakes commutes

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

63%

12%

17%

63%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Detroit Lakes is a job hub

2.01jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Detroit Lakes are

8,934 jobs are based in Detroit Lakes. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Detroit Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Detroit Lakes

8,934 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Detroit Lakes residents hold

4,441 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−19%

Jobs based in Detroit Lakes, 2013 → 2023: 11,096 → 8,934. 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.