Work & commute · Council Bluffs

Work & commute in Council Bluffs, IA

About one in 3 of Council Bluffs’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Omaha (31%), Des Moines (1%) and Bellevue (1%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

37%

10,927 of 29,375 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 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 18,448 Council Bluffs residents head out of town to work, 10,927 work right here, and 19,782 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Council Bluffs.

18,448live here, work elsewhere

10,927live and work here

19,782work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Council Bluffs goes to work

Council Bluffs (in town)right here

37%10,927

Omaha, NE10.6 mi away

31%9,209

Des Moines118.5 mi away

1%427

Bellevue, NE7.7 mi away

1%395

Papillion, NE13.3 mi away

1%322

Lincoln, NE52 mi away

1%322

La Vista, NE11.7 mi away

1%310

West Des Moines109.6 mi away

1%306

Sioux City91.3 mi away

1%231

Carter Lake4.9 mi away

1%197

Everywhere elseother towns and states

23%6,729

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

How far

How far Council Bluffs commutes

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

57%

23%

16%

57%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Council Bluffs is balanced between jobs and homes

1.05jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.05 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Council Bluffs are

30,709 jobs are based in Council Bluffs. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Council Bluffs’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Council Bluffs

30,709 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Council Bluffs residents hold

29,375 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+5%

Jobs based in Council Bluffs, 2013 → 2023: 29,113 → 30,709. 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.