Work & commute · Altoona

Work & commute in Altoona, IA

Most working residents leave Altoona for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Des Moines (31%), West Des Moines (12%) and Ankeny (9%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

962 of 9,267 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,305 Altoona residents head out of town to work, 962 work right here, and 8,479 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Altoona.

8,305live here, work elsewhere

962live and work here

8,479work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Altoona goes to work

Des Moines8.6 mi away

31%2,849

West Des Moines17.1 mi away

12%1,073

Altoona (in town)right here

10%962

Ankeny8.4 mi away

9%851

Urbandale15.5 mi away

5%489

Bondurant3.8 mi away

3%247

Johnston12.9 mi away

2%210

Pleasant Hill3.8 mi away

2%208

Ames27 mi away

2%182

Clive16.8 mi away

2%162

Everywhere elseother towns and states

22%2,034

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

How far

How far Altoona commutes

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

52%

34%

52%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Altoona is balanced between jobs and homes

1.02jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.02 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Altoona are

9,441 jobs are based in Altoona. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Altoona’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Altoona

9,441 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities37%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Altoona residents hold

9,267 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+42%

Jobs based in Altoona, 2013 → 2023: 6,672 → 9,441. 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.