Work & commute · Lake Prairie

Work & commute in Lake Prairie, MN

Most working residents leave Lake Prairie for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Mankato (30%), St. Peter (21%) and North Mankato (10%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 283 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 281 Lake Prairie residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 141 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lake Prairie.

281live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

141work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lake Prairie goes to work

Mankato17.3 mi away

30%85

St. Peter7.1 mi away

21%59

North Mankato16.2 mi away

10%27

Nicollet12.2 mi away

4%11

New Ulm22.3 mi away

4%10

Le Sueur7.8 mi away

2%6

Minneapolis53.6 mi away

2%6

Prior Lake36.5 mi away

1%4

Rochester82.3 mi away

1%4

South Bend19.3 mi away

1%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

24%67

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

How far

How far Lake Prairie commutes

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

22%

59%

10%

22%Under 10 mi

59%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lake Prairie is a commuter town

0.51jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lake Prairie are

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

Jobs based in Lake Prairie

143 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities82%

Services (health, schools, offices…)3%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month78%

Jobs Lake Prairie residents hold

283 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+123%

Jobs based in Lake Prairie, 2013 → 2023: 64 → 143. 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.