Work & commute · Paynesville

Work & commute in Paynesville, MN

About one in 3 of Paynesville’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are St. Cloud (7%), Paynesville (6%) and Cold Spring (3%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

34%

361 of 1,074 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 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 713 Paynesville residents head out of town to work, 361 work right here, and 1,476 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Paynesville.

713live here, work elsewhere

361live and work here

1,476work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Paynesville goes to work

Paynesville (in town)right here

34%361

St. Cloud28.6 mi away

7%72

Paynesville1.8 mi away

6%63

Cold Spring15.3 mi away

3%28

Waite Park25.2 mi away

3%27

Minneapolis76.4 mi away

2%24

Crow River11.8 mi away

2%22

Litchfield20.1 mi away

2%19

Sartell29.5 mi away

2%18

Wakefield14 mi away

1%15

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%425

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

How far

How far Paynesville commutes

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

42%

21%

16%

20%

42%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Paynesville is a job hub

1.71jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Paynesville are

1,837 jobs are based in Paynesville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Paynesville’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Paynesville

1,837 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)30%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Paynesville residents hold

1,074 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+13%

Jobs based in Paynesville, 2013 → 2023: 1,625 → 1,837. 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.