Work & commute · Carter Lake

Work & commute in Carter Lake, IA

Most working residents leave Carter Lake for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Omaha (46%), Council Bluffs (20%) and Papillion (1%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

88 of 1,743 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,655 Carter Lake residents head out of town to work, 88 work right here, and 1,046 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Carter Lake.

1,655live here, work elsewhere

88live and work here

1,046work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Carter Lake goes to work

Omaha, NE7.3 mi away

46%797

Council Bluffs4.9 mi away

20%347

Carter Lake (in town)right here

5%88

Papillion, NE13.1 mi away

1%22

Sioux City86.9 mi away

1%20

La Vista, NE10.7 mi away

1%19

Lincoln, NE51.5 mi away

1%19

West Des Moines112.1 mi away

1%16

Gretna, NE18.3 mi away

1%16

Des Moines121.1 mi away

1%14

Everywhere elseother towns and states

22%385

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

How far

How far Carter Lake commutes

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

74%

16%

74%Under 10 mi

8%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Carter Lake is a commuter town

0.65jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Carter Lake are

1,134 jobs are based in Carter Lake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carter Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Carter Lake

1,134 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month70%

Jobs Carter Lake residents hold

1,743 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+44%

Jobs based in Carter Lake, 2013 → 2023: 790 → 1,134. 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.