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Work & commute in Woodbury · A commuter town

89% of Woodbury’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Woodbury for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are St. Paul (18%), Minneapolis (13%) and Edina (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Work in town
11%
4,080 of 37,417 working residents
Typical commute
14 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
24 min
More than MN (23 min)
Work from home
27%
More than MN (18%)
Jobs based here
21,689
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Woodbury?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

18% of working residents work in St. Paul

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

NewportSouth St. PaulOakdale: 655 residents work here (2%)Roseville: 698 residents work here (2%)MaplewoodEdina: 1,611 residents work here (4%)AftonLake ElmoBloomington: 1,483 residents work here (4%)WoodburyCottage Grove: 904 residents work here (2%)Eagan: 1,015 residents work here (3%)Inver Grove HeightsEden Prairie: 752 residents work here (2%)St. Paul: 6,901 residents work here (18%)Minneapolis: 4,965 residents work here (13%)St. PaulMinneapolisEdinaBloomingtonEaganCottage GroveWoodbury
1
St. Paul9.3 mi away
18%6,901
2
Minneapolis17.3 mi away
13%4,965
3
Woodbury (in town)right here
11%4,080
4
Edina21.4 mi away
4%1,611
5
Bloomington19.9 mi away
4%1,483
6
Eagan13.3 mi away
3%1,015
7
Cottage Grove6.4 mi away
2%904
8
Eden Prairie26.5 mi away
2%752
9
Roseville13.6 mi away
2%698
10
Oakdale5.9 mi away
2%655
Everywhere elseother towns and states
38%14,353
The top trips

Where Woodbury clocks in

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

Time on the road

About 24 minutes each way, about the MN average

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

A year of commuting
183 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Woodbury24 min
Minnesota23 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
27%

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

About 3 in 10

How Woodbury ranks on commute time →

The jobs

What the 21,689 jobs in Woodbury are

21,689 jobs are based in Woodbury. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Woodbury’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in WoodburyJobs Woodbury residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms8%12%
Trade, transport & utilities24%16%
Services: health, schools, offices68%73%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less22%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month26%15%
Over $3,333 a month51%73%

Who does it

29 or younger34%21%
30 to 5446%57%
55 and older19%23%
+28%

Jobs based in Woodbury, 2013 → 2023: 16,972 → 21,689. 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.

Day and night

Woodbury quiets down on a workday

On a workday 33,337 residents head out to work, 4,080 work right here, and 17,609 people come in from elsewhere.

33,337live here, work elsewhere
4,080live and work here
17,609work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night78,000
Workday63,000
78,000live here− 33,000head out to work+ 18,000come in to work= 63,000on a workday

About 63,000 people are in Woodbury on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.58jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.58 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 Woodbury commutes less than 14 miles

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

10 mi25 mi30 miSt. Paul: 18% · 9.3 miMinneapolis: 13% · 17.3 miEdina: 4% · 21.4 miBloomington: 4% · 19.9 miEagan: 3% · 13.3 miCottage Grove: 2% · 6.4 miEden Prairie: 2% · 26.5 miRoseville: 2% · 13.6 miOakdale: 2% · 5.9 miSt. Paul 18%Edina 4%Bloomington 4%Eagan 3%Woodbury
WoodburyTop destinations (size = commuters)
35%Under 10 mi13,060 residents
53%10–24 mi19,880 residents
8%25–50 mi2,928 residents
4%Over 50 mi1,523 residents

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

Next door

Woodbury and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Oakdale (2%). Darker towns draw more of Woodbury’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

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 Woodbury

Woodbury home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Woodbury, 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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