Work & commute · Ottertail

Work & commute in Ottertail, MN

Most working residents leave Ottertail for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Perham (17%), Fergus Falls (11%) and Wadena (10%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

21 of 260 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 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 239 Ottertail residents head out of town to work, 21 work right here, and 561 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ottertail.

239live here, work elsewhere

21live and work here

561work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ottertail goes to work

Perham11.6 mi away

17%43

Fergus Falls26.1 mi away

11%29

Wadena21.2 mi away

10%25

Ottertail (in town)right here

8%21

New York Mills11.2 mi away

8%20

Detroit Lakes29.1 mi away

4%11

Gorman17.1 mi away

3%9

Henning9.7 mi away

3%8

Battle Lake12.3 mi away

3%7

Alexandria39.4 mi away

2%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%82

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

How far

How far Ottertail commutes

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

13%

49%

22%

16%

13%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ottertail is a job hub

2.24jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Ottertail are

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

Jobs based in Ottertail

582 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Ottertail residents hold

260 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+59%

Jobs based in Ottertail, 2013 → 2023: 366 → 582. 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.