Work & commute · Cherokee

Work & commute in Cherokee, IA

About one in 3 of Cherokee’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Storm Lake (6%), Sioux City (5%) and Le Mars (3%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

38%

913 of 2,398 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

12 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 1,485 Cherokee residents head out of town to work, 913 work right here, and 1,953 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cherokee.

1,485live here, work elsewhere

913live and work here

1,953work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cherokee goes to work

Cherokee (in town)right here

38%913

Storm Lake19.5 mi away

6%143

Sioux City46 mi away

5%123

Le Mars31.6 mi away

3%79

Holstein18.1 mi away

3%76

Des Moines128.5 mi away

2%57

Orange City30.9 mi away

1%29

West Des Moines122.9 mi away

1%29

Aurelia6.4 mi away

1%28

Omaha, NE105.9 mi away

1%28

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%893

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

How far

How far Cherokee commutes

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

42%

14%

16%

27%

42%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cherokee is balanced between jobs and homes

1.20jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.20 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cherokee are

2,866 jobs are based in Cherokee. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cherokee’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cherokee

2,866 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Cherokee residents hold

2,398 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month56%

−17%

Jobs based in Cherokee, 2013 → 2023: 3,459 → 2,866. 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.