Work & commute · Bedford

Work & commute in Bedford, IA

Most working residents leave Bedford for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Clarinda (11%), Maryville (6%) and Lenox (5%). Half commute less than 24 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

114 of 651 working residents

Typical commute

24 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 537 Bedford residents head out of town to work, 114 work right here, and 324 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bedford.

537live here, work elsewhere

114live and work here

324work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bedford goes to work

Bedford (in town)right here

18%114

Clarinda16.8 mi away

11%70

Maryville, MO24 mi away

6%40

Lenox17 mi away

5%34

Creston32.8 mi away

3%22

West Des Moines78.1 mi away

2%16

Des Moines85.1 mi away

2%15

New Market10.1 mi away

2%14

Corning22.2 mi away

2%14

Chariton77.7 mi away

2%11

Everywhere elseother towns and states

46%301

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

How far

How far Bedford commutes

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

22%

32%

39%

22%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

39%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bedford is a commuter town

0.67jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Bedford are

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

Jobs based in Bedford

438 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Bedford residents hold

651 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month56%

−7%

Jobs based in Bedford, 2013 → 2023: 471 → 438. 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.