Work & commute · Creston

Work & commute in Creston, IA

41% of Creston’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Des Moines (4%), West Des Moines (2%) and Greenfield (2%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

41%

1,277 of 3,126 working residents

Typical commute

9 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 1,849 Creston residents head out of town to work, 1,277 work right here, and 2,551 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Creston.

1,849live here, work elsewhere

1,277live and work here

2,551work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Creston goes to work

Creston (in town)right here

41%1,277

Des Moines52.8 mi away

4%134

West Des Moines45.4 mi away

2%78

Greenfield17.7 mi away

2%73

Lenox15.9 mi away

2%65

Ankeny61 mi away

2%56

Osceola30.2 mi away

2%54

Ames77 mi away

2%53

Urbandale50.1 mi away

1%39

Cedar Rapids152.3 mi away

1%38

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%1,259

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

How far

How far Creston commutes

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

51%

10%

31%

51%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Creston is balanced between jobs and homes

1.22jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Creston are

3,828 jobs are based in Creston. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Creston’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Creston

3,828 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month42%

Jobs Creston residents hold

3,126 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month48%

−15%

Jobs based in Creston, 2013 → 2023: 4,480 → 3,828. 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.