Work & commute · Waite Park

Work & commute in Waite Park, MN

Most working residents leave Waite Park for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are St. Cloud (42%), Sartell (3%) and St. Joseph (3%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

396 of 3,401 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 3,005 Waite Park residents head out of town to work, 396 work right here, and 7,743 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waite Park.

3,005live here, work elsewhere

396live and work here

7,743work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waite Park goes to work

St. Cloud3.5 mi away

42%1,429

Waite Park (in town)right here

12%396

Sartell6.8 mi away

3%109

St. Joseph4.2 mi away

3%100

Minneapolis61.1 mi away

2%80

Willmar48.3 mi away

2%69

Sauk Rapids6.7 mi away

2%55

Cold Spring10 mi away

2%52

Wakefield11.2 mi away

1%39

St. Paul68.1 mi away

1%30

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%1,042

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

How far

How far Waite Park commutes

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

65%

20%

65%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waite Park is a job hub

2.39jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Waite Park are

8,139 jobs are based in Waite Park. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waite Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waite Park

8,139 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Waite Park residents hold

3,401 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+21%

Jobs based in Waite Park, 2013 → 2023: 6,719 → 8,139. 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.