Sturgeon Lake - Willow River is a very small town located in the state of Minnesota. With a population of 3,059 people and just one neighborhood, Sturgeon Lake - Willow River is the 244th largest community in Minnesota. Much of the housing stock in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River was built relatively recently. The construction of new real estate can often be taken as an indication that the local Sturgeon Lake - Willow River economy is robust, and that jobs or other amenities are attracting an influx of new residents. This seems to be the case in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River, where the median household income is $75,486.00.
Unlike some towns, Sturgeon Lake - Willow River isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Sturgeon Lake - Willow River is a town of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River who work in healthcare (12.35%), law enforcement and fire fighting (9.26%), and office and administrative support (8.97%).
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 10.28% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Being a small town, Sturgeon Lake - Willow River does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The citizens of Sturgeon Lake - Willow River are slightly less educated than the national average of 21.84% for the average city or town: 16.22% of adults in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree
The per capita income in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River in 2022 was $36,150, which is lower middle income relative to Minnesota, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $144,600 for a family of four. However, Sturgeon Lake - Willow River contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Sturgeon Lake - Willow River is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Sturgeon Lake - Willow River home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Sturgeon Lake - Willow River residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River include German, Polish, Irish, Norwegian, and Swedish.
The most common language spoken in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Of particular note, 6.0% of the people in the neighborhood currently reside in a correction facility, held due to punishment for a crime.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 29.6% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 95.3% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
In addition, unpopulated, and rural, the neighborhood is one of the least crowded neighborhoods in all of America. If you like open space, no traffic, and lots of room, this neighborhood may be just what you are looking for. According to NeighborhoodScout's leading research, this neighborhood is less densely populated than 94.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
The government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 12.8% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 95.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Finnish and Swedish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Finnish ancestry and 9.3% have Swedish ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 47.6% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 7.9% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 54.8% of America's neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 33.7% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 26.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (25.3%), and 12.8% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 97.8% of households.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Sturgeon Lake - Willow River, MN, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (25.6%). There are also a number of people of Polish ancestry (13.6%), and residents who report Irish roots (10.9%), and some of the residents are also of Norwegian ancestry (10.9%), along with some Swedish ancestry residents (9.3%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (35.6% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (67.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (21.6%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.