Work & commute · Defiance

Work & commute in Defiance, IA

Most working residents leave Defiance for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Harlan (20%), Elk Horn (9%) and Omaha (6%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4 of 102 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 98 Defiance residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 121 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Defiance.

98live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

121work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Defiance goes to work

Harlan12.1 mi away

20%20

Elk Horn21.5 mi away

9%9

Omaha, NE53.6 mi away

6%6

Denison13.2 mi away

5%5

Defiance (in town)right here

4%4

Council Bluffs48.6 mi away

4%4

Ames89.4 mi away

4%4

Shelby22.8 mi away

3%3

Atlantic34.1 mi away

3%3

Lincoln, NE98.6 mi away

3%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%41

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

How far

How far Defiance commutes

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

11%

43%

14%

32%

11%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

32%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Defiance is balanced between jobs and homes

1.23jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.23 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Defiance are

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

Jobs based in Defiance

125 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)40%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)31%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs Defiance residents hold

102 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+84%

Jobs based in Defiance, 2013 → 2023: 68 → 125. 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.