Work & commute · South St. Paul

Work & commute in South St. Paul, MN

Most working residents leave South St. Paul for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are St. Paul (17%), Minneapolis (11%) and Eagan (6%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

615 of 9,706 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 9,091 South St. Paul residents head out of town to work, 615 work right here, and 5,068 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in South St. Paul.

9,091live here, work elsewhere

615live and work here

5,068work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where South St. Paul goes to work

St. Paul5.2 mi away

17%1,674

Minneapolis12.3 mi away

11%1,088

South St. Paul (in town)right here

6%615

Eagan7.8 mi away

6%573

Inver Grove Heights4.2 mi away

5%475

Bloomington14 mi away

4%410

West St. Paul2.4 mi away

4%347

Edina15.6 mi away

3%338

Woodbury5.9 mi away

3%281

Mendota Heights4.6 mi away

2%236

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%3,669

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

How far

How far South St. Paul commutes

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

53%

40%

53%Under 10 mi

40%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

South St. Paul is a commuter town

0.59jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in South St. Paul are

5,683 jobs are based in South St. Paul. Here is what they are, next to the jobs South St. Paul’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in South St. Paul

5,683 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities33%

Services (health, schools, offices…)34%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month71%

Jobs South St. Paul residents hold

9,706 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

−11%

Jobs based in South St. Paul, 2013 → 2023: 6,416 → 5,683. 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.