Work & commute · Heron Lake

Work & commute in Heron Lake, MN

Most working residents leave Heron Lake for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Worthington (16%), Jackson (7%) and Windom (5%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

31 of 301 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 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 270 Heron Lake residents head out of town to work, 31 work right here, and 117 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Heron Lake.

270live here, work elsewhere

31live and work here

117work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Heron Lake goes to work

Worthington18.2 mi away

16%49

Heron Lake (in town)right here

10%31

Jackson20.4 mi away

7%20

Windom11.3 mi away

5%16

Lakefield11.2 mi away

4%13

Brewster10 mi away

4%13

Okabena4.1 mi away

4%11

Sioux Falls, SD72.8 mi away

3%10

Marshall50.6 mi away

3%8

Mankato71.6 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%123

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

How far

How far Heron Lake commutes

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

19%

46%

29%

19%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

29%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Heron Lake is a commuter town

0.49jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Heron Lake are

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

Jobs based in Heron Lake

148 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less33%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month35%

Jobs Heron Lake residents hold

301 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)30%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month49%

−11%

Jobs based in Heron Lake, 2013 → 2023: 167 → 148. 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.