Work & commute · Belle Plaine

Work & commute in Belle Plaine, IA

About one in 5 of Belle Plaine’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Cedar Rapids (12%), Homestead (4%) and Iowa City (3%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20%

241 of 1,212 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 971 Belle Plaine residents head out of town to work, 241 work right here, and 389 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Belle Plaine.

971live here, work elsewhere

241live and work here

389work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Belle Plaine goes to work

Belle Plaine (in town)right here

20%241

Cedar Rapids31 mi away

12%146

Homestead22.8 mi away

4%52

Iowa City41.8 mi away

3%37

Des Moines72.3 mi away

3%33

Keystone8.2 mi away

2%24

Williamsburg20.7 mi away

2%23

Waterloo41.4 mi away

2%23

Marengo12.7 mi away

2%22

West Des Moines81.2 mi away

2%22

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%589

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

How far

How far Belle Plaine commutes

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

24%

25%

28%

23%

24%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

28%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Belle Plaine is a commuter town

0.52jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Belle Plaine are

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

Jobs based in Belle Plaine

630 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Belle Plaine residents hold

1,212 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)35%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−9%

Jobs based in Belle Plaine, 2013 → 2023: 690 → 630. 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.