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Work & commute in Motley · A commuter town

100% of Motley’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Motley for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Motley (14%), Little Falls (11%) and Brainerd (11%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Work in town
0%
0 of 81 working residents
Typical commute
19 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
31 min
More than MN (23 min)
Work from home
2%
Less than MN (18%)
Jobs based here
5
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Motley?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

14% of working residents work in Motley

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Pillager: 2 residents work here (2%)Motley: 11 residents work here (14%)Randall: 2 residents work here (2%)Staples: 6 residents work here (7%)Little Falls: 9 residents work here (11%)East Gull Lake: 2 residents work here (2%)Brainerd: 9 residents work here (11%)Baxter: 5 residents work here (6%)Scandia Valley: 5 residents work here (6%)RosingInmanVillardSylvan: 3 residents work here (4%)Belle PrairieMotleyMayFawn LakeBeckerPike CreekMotleyLittle FallsBrainerdStaplesBaxterScandia ValleyMotley
1
Motley3.2 mi away
14%11
2
Little Falls24.7 mi away
11%9
3
Brainerd19 mi away
11%9
4
Staples11.6 mi away
7%6
5
Baxter15.2 mi away
6%5
6
Scandia Valley5.8 mi away
6%5
7
Sylvan9.4 mi away
4%3
8
Pillager5.7 mi away
2%2
9
Randall15.6 mi away
2%2
10
East Gull Lake12.5 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
33%27
The top trips

Where Motley clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 31 minutes each way, longer than most of Minnesota

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
237 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Motley31 min
Minnesota23 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
2%

of Motley workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
Day and night

Motley quiets down on a workday

On a workday 81 residents head out to work, 0 work right here, and 5 people come in from elsewhere.

81live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
5work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night170
Workday98
170live here− 81head out to work+ 5come in to work= 98on a workday

About 98 people are in Motley on a workday afternoon, 44% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.06jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Motley commutes less than 19 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi30 miMotley: 14% · 3.2 miLittle Falls: 11% · 24.7 miBrainerd: 11% · 19 miStaples: 7% · 11.6 miBaxter: 6% · 15.2 miScandia Valley: 6% · 5.8 miSylvan: 4% · 9.4 miPillager: 2% · 5.7 miRandall: 2% · 15.6 miEast Gull Lake: 2% · 12.5 miMotley 14%Little Falls 11%Brainerd 11%Staples 7%Baxter 6%Motley
MotleyTop destinations (size = commuters)
33%Under 10 mi27 residents
30%10–24 mi24 residents
14%25–50 mi11 residents
23%Over 50 mi19 residents

About 23% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Mostly services: health care, schools and offices

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

Jobs based in MotleyJobs Motley residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%20%
Trade, transport & utilities0%17%
Services: health, schools, offices100%63%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less0%22%
$1,251–$3,333 a month100%23%
Over $3,333 a month0%54%

Who does it

29 or younger40%27%
30 to 5420%43%
55 and older40%30%
+150%

Jobs based in Motley, 2013 → 2023: 2 → 5. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Next door

Motley and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Scandia Valley (6%). Darker towns draw more of Motley’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Motley

Motley home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Motley, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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