Work & commute · Baxter

Work & commute in Baxter, IA

Most working residents leave Baxter for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Des Moines (17%), Newton (9%) and Ankeny (7%). Half commute less than 28 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

28 of 449 working residents

Typical commute

28 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 421 Baxter residents head out of town to work, 28 work right here, and 219 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Baxter.

421live here, work elsewhere

28live and work here

219work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Baxter goes to work

Des Moines29.4 mi away

17%78

Newton10.6 mi away

9%40

Ankeny24 mi away

7%31

Baxter (in town)right here

6%28

West Des Moines37.6 mi away

6%25

Altoona20.8 mi away

4%16

Urbandale34.9 mi away

4%16

Marshalltown19.2 mi away

3%15

Ames27.8 mi away

3%15

Clive36.5 mi away

2%11

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%174

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

How far

How far Baxter commutes

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

15%

28%

45%

13%

15%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

45%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Baxter is a commuter town

0.55jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.55 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Baxter are

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

Jobs based in Baxter

247 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less31%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Baxter residents hold

449 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month68%

−4%

Jobs based in Baxter, 2013 → 2023: 256 → 247. 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.