Work & commute · Owatonna

Work & commute in Owatonna, MN

Most working residents leave Owatonna for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Owatonna (54%), Faribault (6%) and Rochester (4%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

5 of 270 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 265 Owatonna residents head out of town to work, 5 work right here, and 422 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Owatonna.

265live here, work elsewhere

5live and work here

422work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Owatonna goes to work

Owatonna2.7 mi away

54%145

Faribault17.2 mi away

6%17

Rochester36.8 mi away

4%11

Northfield27.8 mi away

3%7

Medford8 mi away

2%6

Owatonna (in town)right here

2%5

Waseca14.3 mi away

1%4

Austin29 mi away

1%3

Bloomington53.7 mi away

1%3

Kenyon18.9 mi away

1%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

25%67

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

How far

How far Owatonna commutes

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

59%

13%

15%

59%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Owatonna is a job hub

1.58jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Owatonna are

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

Jobs based in Owatonna

427 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)47%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Owatonna residents hold

270 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+31%

Jobs based in Owatonna, 2013 → 2023: 326 → 427. 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.