Work & commute · Knife Lake

Work & commute in Knife Lake, MN

Most working residents leave Knife Lake for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Mora (19%), Cambridge (4%) and Milaca (3%). Half commute less than 30 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4 of 533 working residents

Typical commute

30 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

34 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 529 Knife Lake residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 75 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Knife Lake.

529live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

75work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Knife Lake goes to work

Mora3.8 mi away

19%103

Cambridge25.7 mi away

4%22

Milaca19.7 mi away

3%15

Duluth81.5 mi away

3%15

St. Cloud49.4 mi away

2%13

Minneapolis66.6 mi away

2%12

Hinckley20.5 mi away

2%11

Blaine52.6 mi away

2%11

Princeton28 mi away

2%10

Kanabec7.1 mi away

2%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

59%312

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

How far

How far Knife Lake commutes

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

25%

18%

22%

35%

25%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

35%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Knife Lake is a commuter town

0.15jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Knife Lake are

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

Jobs based in Knife Lake

79 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities71%

Services (health, schools, offices…)9%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Knife Lake residents hold

533 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+163%

Jobs based in Knife Lake, 2013 → 2023: 30 → 79. 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.