Work & commute · Palmer

Work & commute in Palmer, MN

Most working residents leave Palmer for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are St. Cloud (24%), Becker (5%) and Minneapolis (5%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

23 of 1,360 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

33 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,337 Palmer residents head out of town to work, 23 work right here, and 165 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Palmer.

1,337live here, work elsewhere

23live and work here

165work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Palmer goes to work

St. Cloud10.8 mi away

24%330

Becker9.5 mi away

5%70

Minneapolis50.6 mi away

5%64

Sartell14.7 mi away

3%44

Monticello17.3 mi away

3%41

Waite Park14.2 mi away

3%40

St. Paul56.8 mi away

3%34

Sauk Rapids11.2 mi away

2%32

Elk River22.5 mi away

2%32

Clearwater8.8 mi away

2%31

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%642

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

How far

How far Palmer commutes

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

17%

48%

19%

16%

17%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Palmer is a commuter town

0.14jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Palmer are

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

Jobs based in Palmer

188 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)57%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)32%

$1,250 a month or less30%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Palmer residents hold

1,360 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month64%

+54%

Jobs based in Palmer, 2013 → 2023: 122 → 188. 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.