Work & commute · Melrose

Work & commute in Melrose, MN

About one in 4 of Melrose’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are St. Cloud (10%), Sauk Centre (9%) and Albany (4%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

24%

391 of 1,632 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,241 Melrose residents head out of town to work, 391 work right here, and 1,595 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Melrose.

1,241live here, work elsewhere

391live and work here

1,595work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Melrose goes to work

Melrose (in town)right here

24%391

St. Cloud32.8 mi away

10%160

Sauk Centre7.8 mi away

9%144

Albany12.6 mi away

4%64

Willmar40.2 mi away

2%40

Minneapolis89.9 mi away

2%40

Long Prairie20.7 mi away

2%31

Waite Park29.7 mi away

2%28

Avon18.4 mi away

2%26

St. Joseph26 mi away

1%23

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%685

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

How far

How far Melrose commutes

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

42%

16%

20%

22%

42%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Melrose is balanced between jobs and homes

1.22jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Melrose are

1,986 jobs are based in Melrose. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Melrose’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Melrose

1,986 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Melrose residents hold

1,632 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month58%

−19%

Jobs based in Melrose, 2013 → 2023: 2,454 → 1,986. 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.