Work & commute · Watkins

Work & commute in Watkins, MN

Most working residents leave Watkins for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Litchfield (18%), Hutchinson (7%) and St. Cloud (6%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22 of 519 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 497 Watkins residents head out of town to work, 22 work right here, and 333 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Watkins.

497live here, work elsewhere

22live and work here

333work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Watkins goes to work

Litchfield14.5 mi away

18%94

Hutchinson29.8 mi away

7%34

St. Cloud18.7 mi away

6%33

Watkins (in town)right here

4%22

Dassel16.6 mi away

4%20

Litchfield17 mi away

3%18

Cokato19.8 mi away

3%14

Willmar34.2 mi away

3%13

Minneapolis60.8 mi away

2%12

Cold Spring9.9 mi away

2%10

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%249

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

How far

How far Watkins commutes

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

12%

48%

18%

22%

12%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Watkins is a commuter town

0.68jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Watkins are

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

Jobs based in Watkins

355 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Watkins residents hold

519 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+20%

Jobs based in Watkins, 2013 → 2023: 297 → 355. 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.