Work & commute · Birmingham

Work & commute in Birmingham, IA

Most working residents leave Birmingham for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Keosauqua (23%), Fairfield (18%) and Bonaparte (7%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 113 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 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 112 Birmingham residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 25 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Birmingham.

112live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

25work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Birmingham goes to work

Keosauqua10 mi away

23%26

Fairfield8.9 mi away

18%20

Bonaparte14.5 mi away

7%8

Des Moines98.8 mi away

3%3

Bloomfield26.1 mi away

2%2

Centerville49.4 mi away

2%2

Mount Pleasant21.7 mi away

2%2

Ottumwa26.7 mi away

2%2

Cedar Rapids76.3 mi away

2%2

Douds7 mi away

2%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%44

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

How far

How far Birmingham commutes

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

32%

38%

23%

32%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Birmingham is a commuter town

0.23jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Birmingham are

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

Jobs based in Birmingham

26 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities35%

Services (health, schools, offices…)35%

$1,250 a month or less27%

$1,251–$3,333 a month50%

Over $3,333 a month23%

Jobs Birmingham residents hold

113 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month58%

−30%

Jobs based in Birmingham, 2013 → 2023: 37 → 26. 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.