Work & commute · Pelican Lake

Work & commute in Pelican Lake, MN

Most working residents leave Pelican Lake for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Elbow Lake (23%), Fergus Falls (17%) and Alexandria (8%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

3 of 206 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

29%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 203 Pelican Lake residents head out of town to work, 3 work right here, and 7 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Pelican Lake.

203live here, work elsewhere

3live and work here

7work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Pelican Lake goes to work

Elbow Lake7.9 mi away

23%47

Fergus Falls19.2 mi away

17%34

Alexandria25.7 mi away

8%16

Ashby2.9 mi away

7%14

Fargo, ND72.8 mi away

5%10

Brandon13.6 mi away

2%5

Morris32.7 mi away

2%5

Kensington20.6 mi away

1%3

Wendell12.3 mi away

1%3

Barrett10.4 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%66

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

How far

How far Pelican Lake commutes

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

29%

36%

11%

23%

29%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Pelican Lake is a commuter town

0.05jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Pelican Lake are

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

Jobs based in Pelican Lake

10 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)50%

Trade, transport & utilities40%

Services (health, schools, offices…)10%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month70%

Jobs Pelican Lake residents hold

206 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+67%

Jobs based in Pelican Lake, 2013 → 2023: 6 → 10. 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.