Apple Valley, Rosemount See Big Loss in Workers During the Day

Written by James Warden.

Apple Valley and Rosemount see a population exodus during the workday as residents commute to jobs in communities around the metro, according to recently released Census data.

Apple Valley's daytime population drops by about 27 percent and Rosemount's by 22 percent, based on estimates from the 2006-2010 American Community Survey. In all, the Apple Valley's population falls by 13,154 people—from a resident population of 48,751 to a population of 35,597 during the workday. Rosemount's falls by 4,486, from 20,708 total to 16,222 during the day.

These figures are comprable to those of Lakeville and Famington. In Burnsville, the inflow-outflow is about even, and in Eagan the population rises by about 25 percent during the day.

Use the map above to compare how Minnesota cities fared. The map is colored according to each city’s “employment-residence ratio”—which compares the number of workers in a community to the number of workers who live there. 

Ratios greater than 1.0 mean more people work in a community than it has workers living there. A community with a ranking of 1.19, for example, would have 19 percent more workers working there. By contrast, communities with ratios less than 1.0 send more residents to other communities to work than they receive.

The colors mean:

• Red: .23 to .5
• Yellow: .5 to 1
• Blue: 1 to 1.5
• Green: 1.5 to 5

The map only includes communities with either 2,500 workers living there or 2,500 workers who go there to work.