Work & commute · Lake Elmo

Work & commute in Lake Elmo, MN

Most working residents leave Lake Elmo for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are St. Paul (16%), Minneapolis (13%) and Woodbury (5%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

253 of 6,229 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

37%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,976 Lake Elmo residents head out of town to work, 253 work right here, and 2,856 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lake Elmo.

5,976live here, work elsewhere

253live and work here

2,856work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lake Elmo goes to work

St. Paul9.9 mi away

16%1,010

Minneapolis17.6 mi away

13%783

Woodbury5.7 mi away

5%315

Lake Elmo (in town)right here

4%253

Edina23 mi away

4%238

Stillwater6.2 mi away

3%216

Bloomington22.7 mi away

3%185

Oakdale2.6 mi away

3%169

Eagan17.2 mi away

2%153

Oak Park Heights5.8 mi away

2%146

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%2,761

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

How far

How far Lake Elmo commutes

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

36%

51%

10%

36%Under 10 mi

51%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lake Elmo is a commuter town

0.50jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lake Elmo are

3,109 jobs are based in Lake Elmo. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake Elmo’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lake Elmo

3,109 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Lake Elmo residents hold

6,229 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month74%

+88%

Jobs based in Lake Elmo, 2013 → 2023: 1,654 → 3,109. 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.