Work & commute · Oakdale

Work & commute in Oakdale, MN

Most working residents leave Oakdale for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are St. Paul (19%), Minneapolis (10%) and Woodbury (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

881 of 13,845 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

20%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 12,964 Oakdale residents head out of town to work, 881 work right here, and 10,395 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oakdale.

12,964live here, work elsewhere

881live and work here

10,395work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oakdale goes to work

St. Paul7.4 mi away

19%2,575

Minneapolis15 mi away

10%1,409

Oakdale (in town)right here

6%881

Woodbury5.9 mi away

5%631

Edina20.5 mi away

4%545

Bloomington20.4 mi away

3%441

Maplewood4 mi away

3%430

Roseville9.5 mi away

3%405

Eagan15.4 mi away

2%309

Stillwater8.1 mi away

2%244

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%5,975

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

How far

How far Oakdale commutes

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

45%

46%

45%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oakdale is balanced between jobs and homes

0.81jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Oakdale are

11,276 jobs are based in Oakdale. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oakdale’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oakdale

11,276 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Oakdale residents hold

13,845 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+28%

Jobs based in Oakdale, 2013 → 2023: 8,835 → 11,276. 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.