Work & commute · Ames

Work & commute in Ames, IA

52% of Ames’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Des Moines (7%), West Des Moines (4%) and Ankeny (3%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

52%

11,888 of 22,757 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 10,869 Ames residents head out of town to work, 11,888 work right here, and 22,887 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ames.

10,869live here, work elsewhere

11,888live and work here

22,887work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ames goes to work

Ames (in town)right here

52%11,888

Des Moines31.4 mi away

7%1,539

West Des Moines33.9 mi away

4%836

Ankeny20.4 mi away

3%784

Nevada7.8 mi away

3%619

Boone13 mi away

2%353

Urbandale28.1 mi away

1%335

Cedar Rapids99.8 mi away

1%283

Johnston23.7 mi away

1%214

Story City11.2 mi away

1%203

Everywhere elseother towns and states

25%5,703

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

How far

How far Ames commutes

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

57%

10%

19%

14%

57%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ames is a job hub

1.53jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Ames are

34,775 jobs are based in Ames. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ames’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ames

34,775 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Ames residents hold

22,757 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+12%

Jobs based in Ames, 2013 → 2023: 31,165 → 34,775. 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.