Work & commute · Houston

Work & commute in Houston, MN

Most working residents leave Houston for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are La Crosse (15%), Winona (15%) and Rochester (6%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

81 of 452 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 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 371 Houston residents head out of town to work, 81 work right here, and 533 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Houston.

371live here, work elsewhere

81live and work here

533work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Houston goes to work

Houston (in town)right here

18%81

La Crosse, WI18 mi away

15%67

Winona21.1 mi away

15%66

Rochester48.6 mi away

6%26

Caledonia9 mi away

6%25

Rushford10 mi away

5%24

La Crescent14.3 mi away

5%24

Onalaska, WI20.6 mi away

3%15

St. Paul112 mi away

2%8

Minneapolis118.4 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

24%109

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

How far

How far Houston commutes

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

29%

47%

17%

29%Under 10 mi

47%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Houston is balanced between jobs and homes

1.36jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Houston are

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

Jobs based in Houston

614 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)86%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Houston residents hold

452 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+6%

Jobs based in Houston, 2013 → 2023: 580 → 614. 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.