Work & commute · Grand Forks

Work & commute in Grand Forks, ND

70% of Grand Forks’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Fargo (6%), East Grand Forks (4%) and Bismarck (2%). Half commute less than 3 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

70%

17,690 of 25,230 working residents

Typical commute

3 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 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 7,540 Grand Forks residents head out of town to work, 17,690 work right here, and 13,975 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Grand Forks.

7,540live here, work elsewhere

17,690live and work here

13,975work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Grand Forks goes to work

Grand Forks (in town)right here

70%17,690

Fargo73.9 mi away

6%1,528

East Grand Forks, MN3.5 mi away

4%1,076

Bismarck188.4 mi away

2%454

Crookston, MN24.4 mi away

1%306

Grand Forks3.5 mi away

1%289

West Fargo73.8 mi away

1%226

Minot194.6 mi away

1%211

Grafton37.2 mi away

1%147

Devils Lake83.7 mi away

1%138

Everywhere elseother towns and states

13%3,165

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

How far

How far Grand Forks commutes

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

78%

16%

78%Under 10 mi

3%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Grand Forks is balanced between jobs and homes

1.26jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.26 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Grand Forks are

31,665 jobs are based in Grand Forks. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Grand Forks’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Grand Forks

31,665 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Grand Forks residents hold

25,230 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month60%

−3%

Jobs based in Grand Forks, 2013 → 2023: 32,708 → 31,665. 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.