Work & commute · Armstrong

Work & commute in Armstrong, IA

Most working residents leave Armstrong for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Estherville (14%), Fairmont (7%) and Emmetsburg (6%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

59 of 376 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 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 317 Armstrong residents head out of town to work, 59 work right here, and 238 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Armstrong.

317live here, work elsewhere

59live and work here

238work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Armstrong goes to work

Armstrong (in town)right here

16%59

Estherville17.6 mi away

14%53

Fairmont, MN17.3 mi away

7%28

Emmetsburg21.7 mi away

6%22

Bancroft15.1 mi away

4%16

Swea City8.7 mi away

3%13

Spirit Lake31.6 mi away

2%9

Ringsted7 mi away

2%7

Sioux City114.7 mi away

2%6

Algona25.4 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%158

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

How far

How far Armstrong commutes

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

30%

38%

10%

21%

30%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Armstrong is balanced between jobs and homes

0.79jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.79 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Armstrong are

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

Jobs based in Armstrong

297 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)39%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Armstrong residents hold

376 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+23%

Jobs based in Armstrong, 2013 → 2023: 241 → 297. 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.