Work & commute · Waterville

Work & commute in Waterville, MN

Most working residents leave Waterville for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Mankato (11%), Faribault (10%) and Waseca (7%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

86 of 861 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 775 Waterville residents head out of town to work, 86 work right here, and 346 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waterville.

775live here, work elsewhere

86live and work here

346work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waterville goes to work

Mankato20.3 mi away

11%91

Waterville (in town)right here

10%86

Faribault15.5 mi away

10%85

Waseca10.3 mi away

7%58

Owatonna19 mi away

5%41

Minneapolis53.4 mi away

3%26

Le Center13.8 mi away

3%25

Elysian5.6 mi away

3%24

North Mankato23.4 mi away

2%19

Rochester56.1 mi away

2%18

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%388

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

How far

How far Waterville commutes

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

19%

48%

13%

20%

19%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waterville is a commuter town

0.50jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Waterville are

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

Jobs based in Waterville

432 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less32%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month34%

Jobs Waterville residents hold

861 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+9%

Jobs based in Waterville, 2013 → 2023: 398 → 432. 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.