Work & commute · Atlantic

Work & commute in Atlantic, IA

43% of Atlantic’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Oakland (4%), Council Bluffs (4%) and Omaha (3%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

43%

1,124 of 2,596 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

11 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,472 Atlantic residents head out of town to work, 1,124 work right here, and 2,229 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Atlantic.

1,472live here, work elsewhere

1,124live and work here

2,229work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Atlantic goes to work

Atlantic (in town)right here

43%1,124

Oakland20.2 mi away

4%104

Council Bluffs44.5 mi away

4%98

Omaha, NE54.3 mi away

3%86

Anita13.7 mi away

2%41

Des Moines74.1 mi away

1%38

Harlan23.7 mi away

1%34

West Des Moines65.1 mi away

1%33

Lincoln, NE95 mi away

1%29

Denison46.3 mi away

1%26

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%983

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

How far

How far Atlantic commutes

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

52%

14%

13%

22%

52%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Atlantic is balanced between jobs and homes

1.29jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Atlantic are

3,353 jobs are based in Atlantic. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Atlantic’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Atlantic

3,353 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Atlantic residents hold

2,596 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−11%

Jobs based in Atlantic, 2013 → 2023: 3,761 → 3,353. 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.