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Work & commute in Spring Grove · A commuter town

98% of Spring Grove’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Spring Grove for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are La Crosse (20%), Spring Grove (15%) and Caledonia (13%). Half commute less than 30 miles.

Work in town
2%
2 of 123 working residents
Typical commute
30 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
44 min
More than MN (23 min)
Work from home
46%
More than MN (18%)
Jobs based here
54
A commuter town
Work out of state
19%
mostly Wisconsin

What kind of work town is Spring Grove?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Time on the road

About 44 minutes each way, longer than most of Minnesota

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
340 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14.2 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Spring Grove44 min
Minnesota23 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
46%

of Spring Grove workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.

About 5 in 10
The commute map

20% of working residents work in La Crosse

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

DecorahSpring Grove: 19 residents work here (15%)Houston: 2 residents work here (2%)Lanesboro: 2 residents work here (2%)Caledonia: 16 residents work here (13%)Marshall: 3 residents work here (2%)Winona: 5 residents work here (4%)Rochester: 7 residents work here (6%)Minneapolis: 3 residents work here (2%)Onalaska: 3 residents work here (2%)La Crosse: 25 residents work here (20%)WinnebagoWilmingtonSpring GroveBlack HammerNewburgJeffersonCrooked CreekLa CrosseSpring GroveCaledoniaRochesterWinonaMarshallSpring Grove
1
La Crosse, WI30.3 mi away
20%25
2
Spring Grove2.8 mi away
15%19
3
Caledonia11.3 mi away
13%16
4
Rochester51.4 mi away
6%7
5
Winona35.3 mi away
4%5
6
Marshall213.5 mi away
2%3
7
Minneapolis125.7 mi away
2%3
8
Onalaska, WI34 mi away
2%3
9
Houston15.8 mi away
2%2
10
Lanesboro18.7 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
31%38
The top trips

Where Spring Grove clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Day and night

Spring Grove quiets down on a workday

On a workday 121 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 52 people come in from elsewhere.

121live here, work elsewhere
2live and work here
52work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night270
Workday210
270live here− 120head out to work+ 52come in to work= 210on a workday

About 210 people are in Spring Grove on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.44jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Spring Grove commutes less than 30 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miLa Crosse: 20% · 30.3 miSpring Grove: 15% · 2.8 miCaledonia: 13% · 11.3 miRochester: 6% · 51.4 miWinona: 4% · 35.3 miMarshall: 2% · 213.5 miMinneapolis: 2% · 125.7 miOnalaska: 2% · 34 miHouston: 2% · 15.8 miLanesboro: 2% · 18.7 miLa Crosse 20%Spring Grove 15%Caledonia 13%Rochester 6%Winona 4%Spring Grove
Spring GroveTop destinations (size = commuters)
26%Under 10 mi32 residents
12%10–24 mi15 residents
32%25–50 mi39 residents
30%Over 50 mi36 residents

About 30% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Spring Grove makes things: 52% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in Spring GroveJobs Spring Grove residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms52%24%
Trade, transport & utilities0%13%
Services: health, schools, offices48%63%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less11%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month19%25%
Over $3,333 a month70%64%

Who does it

29 or younger22%20%
30 to 5452%52%
55 and older26%28%
−37%

Jobs based in Spring Grove, 2013 → 2023: 86 → 54. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Next door

Spring Grove and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Spring Grove’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Black Hammer24 min
Wilmington24 min
Newburg29 min
Spring Grove44 min
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Spring Grove

Spring Grove home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Spring Grove, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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