Work & commute · Sleepy Eye

Work & commute in Sleepy Eye, MN

About one in 3 of Sleepy Eye’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are New Ulm (25%), Home (6%) and Leavenworth (4%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

31%

458 of 1,475 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 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 1,017 Sleepy Eye residents head out of town to work, 458 work right here, and 708 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sleepy Eye.

1,017live here, work elsewhere

458live and work here

708work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sleepy Eye goes to work

Sleepy Eye (in town)right here

31%458

New Ulm12.6 mi away

25%366

Home4.1 mi away

6%87

Leavenworth5.3 mi away

4%53

Mankato38.1 mi away

2%32

Springfield13.5 mi away

2%25

Hutchinson44 mi away

2%24

Minneapolis85 mi away

1%22

Marshall53.6 mi away

1%16

Willmar59.1 mi away

1%14

Everywhere elseother towns and states

26%378

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

How far

How far Sleepy Eye commutes

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

42%

32%

18%

42%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sleepy Eye is balanced between jobs and homes

0.79jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.79 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Sleepy Eye are

1,166 jobs are based in Sleepy Eye. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sleepy Eye’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sleepy Eye

1,166 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Sleepy Eye residents hold

1,475 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month61%

−47%

Jobs based in Sleepy Eye, 2013 → 2023: 2,187 → 1,166. 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.