Work & commute · Cedar Rapids

Work & commute in Cedar Rapids, IA

57% of Cedar Rapids’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Marion (5%), Hiawatha (4%) and Iowa City (4%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

57%

35,360 of 61,689 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 26,329 Cedar Rapids residents head out of town to work, 35,360 work right here, and 58,738 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cedar Rapids.

26,329live here, work elsewhere

35,360live and work here

58,738work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cedar Rapids goes to work

Cedar Rapids (in town)right here

57%35,360

Marion7.3 mi away

5%3,329

Hiawatha6.4 mi away

4%2,709

Iowa City22.6 mi away

4%2,696

Coralville18.8 mi away

2%1,531

Homestead17.2 mi away

2%1,194

Des Moines103.1 mi away

2%1,032

North Liberty15.6 mi away

1%837

Davenport62.2 mi away

1%728

West Des Moines112.1 mi away

1%668

Everywhere elseother towns and states

19%11,605

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

How far

How far Cedar Rapids commutes

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

69%

12%

14%

69%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cedar Rapids is a job hub

1.53jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Cedar Rapids are

94,098 jobs are based in Cedar Rapids. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cedar Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cedar Rapids

94,098 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Cedar Rapids residents hold

61,689 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month60%

−3%

Jobs based in Cedar Rapids, 2013 → 2023: 97,241 → 94,098. 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.