Work & commute · Staples

Work & commute in Staples, MN

About one in 5 of Staples’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Wadena (9%), Motley (7%) and Brainerd (5%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22%

267 of 1,212 working residents

Typical commute

22 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 945 Staples residents head out of town to work, 267 work right here, and 1,779 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Staples.

945live here, work elsewhere

267live and work here

1,779work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Staples goes to work

Staples (in town)right here

22%267

Wadena15.7 mi away

9%113

Motley8.6 mi away

7%83

Brainerd29.4 mi away

5%61

Baxter25.8 mi away

4%50

New York Mills28.4 mi away

2%29

Sebeka22 mi away

2%27

Pillager16.4 mi away

2%19

Perham39.6 mi away

1%18

Scandia Valley17.3 mi away

1%17

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%528

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

How far

How far Staples commutes

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

32%

21%

24%

22%

32%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Staples is a job hub

1.69jobs 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 Staples are

2,046 jobs are based in Staples. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Staples’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Staples

2,046 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)83%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Staples residents hold

1,212 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−1%

Jobs based in Staples, 2013 → 2023: 2,066 → 2,046. 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.